Columbia  Stotoensitp 

THE  LIBRARIES 


THE  LIFE  OF 
ISAAC  WILSON  JOYCE 


BY 

WILBUR  FLETCHER  SHERIDAN 

With  Portraits. 


CINCINNATI:    JENNINGS    AND    GRAHAM 
NEW  YORK:    EATON  AND  MAINS 


°\i 


Copyright,  1907.  by 
Jennings  <fe  Graham 


This  Book  is 

To  the  Faithful  Companion 

who  Walked  by  His  Side 

Fob  Fobty-four 

Years. 


PREFACE. 


THE  original  arrangement  was  that  Dr. 
Richard  J.  Cooke  should  write  the  biog- 
raphy of  Bishop  Joyce.  No  one  was  better 
fitted  to  do  so,  as  he  had  been  long  and  intimately 
associated  with  him  in  his  later  years.  After  some 
months,  however,  Dr.  Cooke  found  his  duties  as 
Book  Editor  so  multiplying  on  his  hands,  and  his 
necessary  absence  in  Europe  on  official  duties  re- 
quiring so  much  of  his  time,  that  he  was  compelled 
to  give  up  the  task.  I  was  then  asked  to  under- 
take it.  My  acquaintance  with  Bishop  Joyce  had 
begun  in  my  childhood,  when  he  was  our  family's 
pastor  at  Greencastle,  Indiana.  While  the  work 
has  been  most  congenial,  two  things  have  made  it 
difficult:  first,  the  fact  that  I  have  been  in  the  midst 
of  the  pressing  labors  of  a  heavy  city  pastorate; 
second,  that  Bishop  Joyce  left  comparatively  little 
written  data.      He  was  pre-eminently  a  man  of 

5 


6  Preface. 

action,  and  was  too  busy  making  history  to  record 
it,  and  too  busy  preaching  sermons  even  to  write 
them.  Both  his  words  and  deeds,  however,  are 
stamped  imperishably  in  the  hearts  of  men  in  four 
continents.  W.  F.  S. 

Baltimore,  March,  1907. 
Mount  Vernon  Place  Parsonage. 


CONTENTS. 

Page. 

I.    Ancestry — Birth — Childhood,  9 

II.   Youth— Conversion — Education,     -        -  17 

III.  Into  the  Methodist  Ministry,  23 

IV.  The  Circuit  Rider, 28 

V.   Ten  Years  in  Lafayette,  41 

VI.    Pastorates    at    Baltimore    and    Green- 
castle,  -------  51 

VII.   Cincinnati  Pastorates,  59 

VIII.   Elected  Bishop, 75 

IX.   His  Episcopal  Residences — Chattanooga 

and  Minneapolis,    -----  87 

X.    As  an  Administrator,        -  104 

XI.   As  a  Preacher,     ------  hq 

XII.    Bishop  Joyce  and  Foreign  Missions,       -  129 

XIII.  His  Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia,        -  151 

XIV.  Bishop  Joyce  and  the  Epworth  League,  179 

XV.   Decoration  Day  Address  Delivered  at 

Chattanooga, 185 

7 


Contents. 


Page 
XVI.   His  Religious  Experience,  -  208 

XVII.    A  Beautiful  Home  Life,  -  220 

XVIII.   The  Last  Days, 227 

XIX.   Isaac  Wilson  Joyce  as  We  Knew  Him,  249 

XX.   Estimates  by  Church  Leaders,  -  260 


CHAPTER  I. 

Ancestry — Birth — Childhood. 

AT  that  latitude  in  our  land  where  the  cold 
/\  intellectualism  of  the  North  meets  the  warm 
-* — ^-  magnetism  of  the  South,  it  might  be  ex- 
pected that  a  type  of  mind  and  temperament 
should  be  produced  which  should  blend  the  two. 
And  if  it  be  the  region,  also,  where  the  East 
and  West  meet,  it  might  reasonably  be  antici- 
pated that  there  would  be  united  with  the  already 
composite  character  something  of  the  caution  and 
conservatism  of  the  East,  together  with  the  energy 
and  breeziness  of  the  West.  And  it  might  further 
be  expected  that  in  this  region  would  arise  the  most 
facile  and  adaptable  kind  of  Americanism.  Fus- 
ing as  it  would,  the  several  elements,  and  coming 
into  constant  touch  with  them,  there  would  arise 
a  composite  type  that  could  appreciate  the  view- 
point of  all,  and  become  readily  representative 
of  aU. 

It  is  this  very  thing  that  has  happened.  And 
as  one  result,  Ohio  has  become  the  fatherland  of 
Presidents  and  of  bishops.      It  is   not  that  that 

9 


10  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

State  has  produced  men  of  greater  intellectual 
girth  or  eloquence,  but  that  she  has  produced  a 
more  representative,  because  a  more  composite 
type.  "Born  in  Ohio  for  political  purposes,"  is 
the  way  a  Congressional  wit,  the  Honorable  Adam 
Bede,  of  Minnesota,  puts  it. 

Ohio  has  given  to  the  people  called  Methodists 
thirteen  of  their  bishops:  Ames,  Simpson,  W.  L. 
Harris,  Foster,  Merrill,  Walden,  Thoburn,  Cran- 
ston, McCabe,  Moore,  McDowell,  M.  C.  Harris, 
and  the  subject  of  our  biography,  Isaac  Wilson 
Joyce. 

If  "to  be  born  obscure  and  die  famous  is  the 
acme  of  human  felicity,"  Bishop  Joyce  attained 
the  apex  of  human  happiness.  His  father,  James 
Wilson  Joyce,  was  a  humble  farmer  and  plasterer, 
living,  at  the  time  of  Isaac's  birth,  on  a  farm  in 
Colerain  Township,  Hamilton  County,  near  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio.  There,  on  the  11th  of  October, 
1836,  Isaac  was  born.  His  father's  maternal 
grandfather  was  the  Reverend  Isaac  Wilson,  a 
Scotch  Presbyterian  minister  of  Ireland.  They 
gave  to  the  child  the  name  of  this  ministerial  an- 
cestor. Bishop  Joyce's  grand-parents,  on  his 
father's  side,  were  William  and  Margaret  Wilson 
Joyce. 

"The  Joyces  traced  their  ancestry  back  to  Wil- 
liam and  Hannah  Joyce,  of  Dublin,  Ireland;  and 


Ancestry — Birth — Childhood.  1 1 

back  of  them  to  the  Joyces  of  County  Galway, 
Ireland.  Hardiman's  "History  of  Galway"  says 
of  the  Joyces: 

"This  old  Galway  family  is  of  ancient  and 
honorable  English  descent,  and  was  allied  to  the 
Welsh  and  British  princes.  Thomas  Joyce,  the 
first  of  the  name  that  came  to  Ireland,  sailed  from 
Wales  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  .  .  .  He  di- 
rected his  course  to  the  western  part  of  Connaught 
(of  which  Galway  is  a  part),  where  he  acquired 
considerable  tracts  of  territory,  which  his  posterity 
still  inhabit.  While  on  the  voyage,  his  wife 
(daughter  of  O'Brien,  chief  of  Thomund,  in  Mun- 
ster)  gave  birth  to  a  son,  whom  he  named  Mac 
Mara — 'Son  of  the  Sea.'  He  extended  his  father's 
acquisitions,  and  from  him  descended  the  sept  of 
Joyces,  a  race  of  men  remarkable  for  their  stature, 
who  for  centuries  past  inhabited  the  mountainous 
district  in  far  Connaught,  called  from  them  'the 
Joyce  Country.'  "* 

Mr.  Henry  D.  Teetor,  a  genealogist  of  Wash- 
ington City,  asserts  that  the  name  Joyce  was  orig- 
inally Norman,  and  the  family  of  Norman  origin. 
It  is  claimed  that  the  name  is  a  corruption  of 
"Jorz"  or  "Gorst,"  which  became  "Joce,"  and 
finally  Joyce.  "DeJorz  or  Joyce  obtained  ex- 
tended possessions  in  West  Connaught,  Ireland,  in 
the  time  of  Edward  I,   1272-1307,  by   marriage 


Dr.  P.  H.  Bodkin  In  California  Independent. 


12  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

with  the  O'Flahertys,  where  their  descendants  re- 
main to  this  day."  "John,  Simon,  Matthew,  and 
Robert  (Joyce)  were  landed  proprietors  of  Barony 
Forth  at  the  time  of  the  Cromwellian  Settlement 
of  Ireland,  1653-4,  of  which  they  were  then  dis- 
possessed." But  in  a  later  generation  "a  portion 
of  this  vast  patrimony  was  recovered."  Hall,  an 
authorit}^  on  the  Irish  people,  says:  "The  Joyces 
are  a  magnificent  race  of  men,  the  biggest  and 
stoutest  and  tallest  I  have  ever  seen  in  Ireland." 
Blake,  in  his  letters  from  the  Irish  Highlanders, 
writing  in  1823,  says  that  "Edward  Joyce,  or  'Big 
Ned,'  as  he  was  called,  was  between  six  and  seven 
feet  in  height  and  large  in  proportion."  Upon 
one  of  the  many  stone-cairns  in  "Joyce's  Country," 
tipped  with  a  wooden  cross,  may  be  read  the  fol- 
lowing inscription: 

"Pray  for  ye  sole  of  John  Joyce  and  Mary 
Joyce,  his  wife,  died  1712." 

Whatever  may  be  the  relation  of  Bishop  Joyce 
to  the  Irish  Joyces  and  Norman  Jorsts  or  Joces, 
whether  nobles  or  peasants,  it  is  certain  that  he 
was  little  interested  in  the  factitious  distinctions 
of  ancestry.  With  Gibbons,  he  accounted  a  "coat 
of  arms  the  most  useless  of  all  coats."  He  was 
infinitely  more  concerned  in  raising  up  a  race  of 
royal  spiritual  children  than  in  proving  himself 
a  son  of  nobility. 


Ancestry — Birth — Childhood.  1 3 

If  Bishop  Joyce's  blood  was  originally  Nor- 
man, it  had  tarried  long  enough  amid  Irish  tarns 
to  become  thoroughly  tinctured  with  Celtic  feel- 
ing. The  pathos,  the  fire,  and  the  eloquence  of 
the  native  Irishman  were  all  his.  The  best  qual- 
ities of  that  sturdy  stock  seem  to  have  come  to 
blossom  in  him. 

On  his  mother's  side  Bishop  Joyce  was  of  Ger- 
man extraction.  In  religion  her  people  were 
Lutherans.  Of  German  influence  there  is  no  trace 
in  his  life,  however,  save  perhaps  in  the  youthful 
allegiance  to  the  United  Brethren  Church,  which 
is  of  German  origin. 

The  father  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce  was  a 
farmer.  Isaac  was  reared  on  the  farm  not  far 
from  Cincinnati.  No  doubt  he  frequently  went 
with  his  father  to  that  city,  which  at  that  time, 
in  the  forties,  had  become  the  leading  city  in  the 
West,  enjoying  the  title  "The  Queen  City  of  the 
West."  Little  did  the  country  boy,  riding  in  on 
their  primitive  wagon,  dream  that  he  was  to  be  so 
intimately  and  influentially  connected  with  that 
city's  life. 

Young  Joyce  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the 
country  schools,  which,  even  at  that  early  period, 
were  good  in  Ohio.  For  that  State  has  always 
been  well  at  the  front  in  education. 

In  April,  1850,  when  he  was  thirteen  years 


14  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce, 

of  age,  his  parents  moved  to  Indiana.  Many 
families  in  that  part  of  Ohio  were  doing  the  same 
thing  at  that  time.  The  beautiful  districts  about 
Lafayette  and  Frankfort,  Indiana,  were  attract- 
ing many  of  these  settlers.  The  Joyces  settled 
north  of  Lafayette,  at  a  point  made  famous  forty 
years  before  by  a  bloody  battle  between  the  In- 
dians, led  by  Elkswatawa,  more  commonly  called 
"The  Prophet,"  a  brother  of  Tecumseh,  and  the 
whites,  led  by  William  Henry  Harrison.  It  is 
known  in  history  as  "The  Battle  of  Tippecanoe," 
because  of  its  being  fought  on  the  banks  of  that 
stream,  a  tributary  of  the  Wabash.  The  town  of 
Battle  Ground  grew  up  there,  and  about  two  miles 
to  the  northeast  of  this  town,  in  a  little  log  house, 
the  Joyces  lived.  His  boyhood  days  were  days  of 
poverty.  He  grew  up  in  a  two-roomed  log  house, 
with  a  lean-to  for  a  kitchen.  A  barefoot  boy  in 
homespun,  he  trod  every  foot  of  ground  around 
that  little  hut,  and  on  that  little  farm.  In  an  ad- 
dress in  later  years  he  describes  tenderly  the  morn- 
ing-glory vines  that  grew  up  over  the  windows  of 
that  humble  house,  shaking  their  blue  and  pink 
striped  bells  in  the  sunshine,  a  pathetic  token  of 
the  hunger  for  beauty  in  the  heart  of  his  mother 
amid  the  privations  of  the  far  frontier.  And  with 
his  description  of  the  morning-glories  was  poured 


Ancestry — Birth — Childhood.  1 5 

out  a  tribute  of  undying  appreciation  of  that 
mother  love. 

Uneventful  enough  must  have  been  young 
Joyce's  adolescent  life  on  the  Indiana  farm.  Fol- 
lowing the  plow  in  the  spring,  taking  his  place, 
scythe  in  hand,  with  his  father  in  the  ripe  wheat 
of  summer,  cutting  and  shocking  the  corn  in  the 
autumn,  and  attending  school  in  the  winter — this 
was  the  program  for  those  first  four  years  in  In- 
diana. 

With  his  temperament,  however,  it  could  not 
have  been  but  that  young  Joyce  drank  deeply  of 
Nature's  beauties,  and  entered  into  sympathy  with 
her  passing  moods.  Nowhere  does  she  manifest 
her  charms  in  greater  variety  than  in  the  region 
where  he  had  taken  up  his  abode.  There  was 
prairie,  and  there  was  woodland.  Hills  and  streams 
were  not  far  away.  The  Tippecanoe  is  a  beau- 
tiful stream  even  yet.  And  the  country  rolled 
away  in  gentle  undulations,  in  a  way  that  was 
as  restful  to  the  eye  as  it  was  pleasing  to  the  im- 
agination. The  streams  and  birds  and  flowers 
were  all  his  friends.  In  productiveness  the  region 
was  one  of  the  richest  in  the  West,  and  the  fam- 
ilies around  soon  began  to  prosper,  and  the  com- 
forts of  life  became  accessible  to  all. 

His    father   died    in    1878.      Years   later   his 


16  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce, 

mother  married  Mr.  Isaac  Ervin,  of  Hamilton 
County,  Ohio,  a  lover  of  her  early  girlhood.  Many 
years  later  he,  too,  died,  and  the  mother  spent  the 
twilight  of  life  with  her  honored  son  in  his  home 
in  Minneapolis,  until  the  Bishop  left  for  South 
America.  She  then  went  to  her  only  daughter, 
Mrs.  Dunafee,  in  Iola,  Kansas,  where  she  died  in 
March,  1904. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Youth — Conversion — Education. 

YOUNG  JOYCE'S  youth  did  not  differ 
from  that  of  the  average  farmer  boy  in 
the  earlier  days  of  Indiana.  The  summer 
was  spent  in  work  on  the  farm,  and  the  winter  in 
the  district  school.  The  American  public  has  had 
a  distorted  conception  of  the  schools  of  Indiana, 
and  of  the  intelligence  of  her  people.  This  has 
been  due  largely  to  the  writings  of  the  late  Ed- 
ward Eggleston,  himself  a  circuit-rider  in  Indiana 
at  an  early  day.  While  "The  End  of  the  World" 
and  "The  Hoosier  Schoolmaster"  may  have  truly 
reflected  the  life  of  isolated  communities  in  South- 
ern Indiana,  where  the  scenes  were  laid,  they  cari- 
catured the  State  as  a  whole.  And  this  caricature 
has  been  accepted  by  the  American  public  as  por- 
traiture. We  may  add,  parenthetically,  that  the 
late  John  Clark  Ridpath,  the  historian,  shared  the 
view  just  expressed  as  to  the  responsibility  for 
Indiana's  undeserved  reputation  for  illiteracy. 
The  schools  were  of  a  high  order,  throughout  the 
rural  regions  as  well  as  the  towns,  during  even  the 
fifties,  when  young  Joyce  was  in  them. 
2  17 


18  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

On  finishing  the  district  school  an  event  oc- 
curred which  had  a  determining  effect  on  his  edu- 
cation, as  well  as  on  every  interest  of  his  life. 
That  event  was  his  conversion. 

It  is  not  often  that  a  raccoon  hunt  ends  in  a 
revival  meeting.  But  Isaac  and  several  neighbor 
boys  were  out  coon  hunting  one  July  night  in 
1852,  when  the  party  became  scattered  for  some 
reason,  and  young  Joyce  became  lost  from  his 
companions.  Wandering  around  in  the  woods  he 
heard  singing,  and  presently  saw  a  light.  Com- 
ing out  into  the  road,  he  saw  that  the  light  and 
the  singing  proceeded  from  a  schoolhouse.  En- 
tering, he  found  a  revival  meeting  in  progress, 
conducted  by  the  Reverend  David  Brown,  a  United 
Brethren  preacher;  and  like  an  earlier  David, 
this  David's  aim  brought  down  a  giant  that  night. 
Only  it  was  to  life  that  young  Joyce  was  brought, 
not  death.  Humbling  himself  as  a  seeking  peni- 
tent under  the  exhortation  of  the  preacher,  Isaac 
was  happily  converted  to  God.  In  his  later  years 
he  sometimes  declared  in  preaching:  "I  was  con- 
verted on  the  hottest  night  in  July  I  ever  saw, 
and  I  have  not  cooled  off  yet." 

This  conversion  occurred  when  Isaac  was  six- 
teen years  of  age.  His  mother  had  united  with 
the  United  Brethren  Church,  and  he  was  baptized 
in   the   Wabash   River   soon   after   this   by   Mr. 


Youth — Conversion — Education.  19 

Brown,  and  received  as  a  member  of  this  Church. 
He  was  religiously  zealous  from  the  first,  and  took 
part  in  the  family  worship  with  his  father.  He 
was  a  born  preacher,  for  when  he  was  a  little  boy 
he  would  go  out  and  preach  to  the  trees  and  any 
other  objects  he  could  cluster  together,  going 
through  the  forms  of  religious  service.  When  he 
was  to  be  baptized,  he  chose  immersion,  and, 
though  the  weather  was  very  cold,  he  insisted  on 
having  it  done  at  once.  So  they  cut  the  ice,  and 
both  he  and  a  brother  were  immersed. 

Any  other  Church  might  have  had  this  choice 
young  man,  had  it  been  as  alert  and  passionate 
in  its  quest  of  souls  as  was  this  little  United 
Brethren  society,  holding  evangelistic  meetings  in 
the  heat  of  midsummer  in  an  Indiana  schoolhouse. 
The  incident  calls  to  mind  the  saying  of  Hugh 
Price  Hughes  that  "the  people  belong  to  any 
Church  that  has  the  apostolic  aggressiveness  and/ 
the  sanctified  common  sense  to  go  for  them."  It 
is  also  an  illustration  of  the  character  of  the  work 
done  in  winning  the  West  for  Christ.  Those  de- 
nominations that  did  not  wait  for  the  parlor  car 
or  even  the  railroad,  but  pushed  their  way  out, 
over  bad  roads  and  through  the  forests,  secured 
the  choicest  families  cf  that  region  for  their  com- 
munions. 

Soon  young  Joyce  felt  burning  within  him  the 


20  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

longing  for  an  education.  Nothing  quickens  that 
desire  like  a  sound  conversion.  The  influence  of 
the  preacher  in  it  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  he  chose 
Hartsville  College  as  his  place  of  study.  This 
United  Brethren  school  was  situated  in  Barthol- 
omew County,  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  his 
home.  He  might  have  gone  to  Wabash  College, 
which  was  only  thirty  miles  away,  at  Crawfords- 
ville.  He  might  have  chosen  Asbury  (now  De- 
Pauw)  University,  which  was  only  seventy  miles 
away,  at  Greencastle.  But  the  former  was  Presby- 
terian, and  the  latter  was  a  Methodist  school; 
while  Hartsville  was  a  United  Brethren  school. 
And  that  settled  the  matter.  And  the  ministers 
under  whom  they  have  been  converted  have  de- 
cided the  matter  for  thousands  of  the  young  men 
of  our  land.  The  circuit-riders  have  turned  the 
feet  of  these  young  men  towards  the  colleges  of 
the  Church.  While  at  the  same  time  from  their 
own  scanty  salaries  they  have  helped  to  keep  those 
colleges  open.  The  epic  of  the  educational  serv- 
ice and  sacrifice  of  the  circuit-rider  in  America 
has  yet  to  be  written. 

Young  Joyce  attended  the  Hartsville  College 
for  two  years — 1854-6.  He  worked  his  way,  earn- 
ing his  support  by  sawing  and  chopping  wood, 
janitor  work,  and  other  manual  labor. 

He  was  an  enthusiastic  student,  and  made  ex- 


Youth — Conversion — Education.  21 

cellent  progress  in  his  studies.  He  cultivated  the 
art  of  public  speaking  at  every  opportunity. 
Those  who  knew  him  at  this  time  speak  of  his 
style  as  being  somewhat  florid — a  natural  thing 
in  a  youth,  especially  one  of  as  enthusiastic  tem- 
perament as  young  Joyce.  At  this  time  his  course 
at  Hartsville  was  interrupted  by  the  financial 
straits  of  a  member  of  his  family,  who  had  gone 
into  business  at  Rensselaer,  Indiana.  In  order  to 
save  the  business,  Isaac  left  college,  took  charge 
of  the  business — a  photograph  establishment — 
conducted  it  successfully  for  a  time,  sold  it  out 
at  a  profit,  and  then  went  to  teaching  in  the 
schools  of  the  same  town. 

But  although  he  had  given  up  his  college 
course,  he  had  by  no  means  given  up  his  purpose 
to  secure  a  good  education.  During  the  two  years 
of  teaching  that  immediately  followed  he  kept  up 
his  studies.  And  later  still  he  took  the  required 
course  for  securing  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts 
at  Asbury  (now  DePauw)  University,  receiving 
that  degree  in  1872. 

His  attitude  toward  higher  education  in  his 
maturer  years  is  shown  by  the  following  letter, 
written  to  a  young  man  just  graduated  from 
DePauw  University,  who  was  expecting  to  enter 
the  ministry : 


22  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

"Cincinnati,  Ohio,  July  81,  1885. 
"My  Dear : 

"I  think  if  you  can  arrange  it  so  you  can  go 
to  a  theological  school,  you  would  do  well  to  go. 
If  you  could  not  go  for  the  three  required  years, 
I  would  go  at  least  for  one  year;  and  if  you  can 
get  credit  for  what  you  have  done  at  DePauw  in 
Hebrew  and  Greek,  I  think  you  can  graduate  at 
any  one  of  our  theological  schools  in  two  years. 
It  is  my  judgment  that  all  our  young  ministers 
would  do  well,  if  they  can  so  arrange  it,  to  go  to 
a  theological  school  before  they  enter  regularly 
into  the  work  of  the  Christian  ministry. 

"Yours  in  love,  I.  W.  Joyce." 


CHAPTER  III. 
Into  the  Methodist  Ministry. 

WHILE  in  college  at  Hartsville  young 
Joyce  had  been  licensed  as  a  local 
preacher  by  the  United  Brethren.  He 
occasionally  exercised  the  functions  of  that  office 
at  country  appointments  near  Hartsville  and  also 
near  his  old  home. 

While  teaching  at  Rensselaer  he  had  in  his 
school  children  of  the  Reverend  Aaron  Hays,  the 
Methodist  minister  of  that  town.  Mr.  Hays  be- 
came impressed  with  the  superior  qualities  of 
young  Joyce.  He  felt  that  a  young  man  of  un- 
usual gifts  was  among  them.  He  communicated 
his  views  to  his  presiding  elder,  the  Reverend  Ben- 
jamin Winans,  of  Lafayette,  and  to  the  widely 
known  and  honored  Granville  Moody,  who  came  to 
Rensselaer  at  this  time  on  a  visit.  The  influence 
which  Dr.  Moody  exerted  on  Mr.  Joyce's  life  is 
found  in  the  former's  own  words  as  given  in  his 
"Autobiography :" 

"In  the  year  1858  I  spent  several  days  in  Jas- 
per County,  Indiana,  where  my  real  estate  is  lo- 
cated.    One  day  I  went  to  Rensselaer,  the  county- 

23 


24  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

seat  of  said  county,  and  called  at  the  Methodist 
parsonage  to  see  the  pastor,  Aaron  Hays,  an  old 
friend  of  mine.  During  a  somewhat  protracted 
conversation  the  name  of  a  young  man  who  was 
teaching  school  in  the  town  was  mentioned.  Some 
things  that  were  said  gave  me  a  desire  to  see  him 
and  know  more  about  him.  When  I  arose  to  de- 
part the  pastor  invited  me  to  return  in  the  even- 
ing, and  spend  the  night  under  his  roof.  I  ac- 
cepted the  invitation. 

"On  going  out  of  the  town  to  meet  some  en- 
gagements for  the  afternoon,  I  met  a  young  man 
coming  from  the  direction  in  which  I  was  going. 
I  had  an  impression  that  he  was  the  one  whose 
name  I  had  heard  mentioned  at  the  parsonage. 
So  strong  was  the  impression  that  when  we  came 
near  each  other  I  stopped  and  asked  him  his  name ; 
he  replied,  'Joyce.'  I  said,  'Are  you  the  young 
man  teaching  school  in  town;  and  are  the  Meth- 
odist minister's  children  members  of  your  school?' 
He  answered,  'Yes.'  I  asked  him  a  number  of 
questions.  I  found  he  was  a  member  of  the 
United  Brethren  Church;  had  been  converted 
when  sixteen  years  of  age ;  was  at  the  time  twenty- 
two  years  old;  and  was  now  teaching  school  in 
order  to  pay  some  debts  contracted  during  his 
struggle  in  college  to  secure  an  education.  His 
purpose  was  to  enter  the  Christian  ministry.  He 
was  then  a  local  preacher  in  the  United  Brethren 
Church;  had,  however,  preached  only  a  few  times, 
and  had  in  a  few  instances  announced  a  hymn 
and  offered  prayer  in  the  Methodist  church  at 
the   close   of  the   pastor's   sermon.      A   few   more 


Into  the  Methodist  Ministry.  25 

questions  brought  out  the  fact  that  he  was  becom- 
ing much  dissatisfied  with  the  United  Brethren 
Church,  because  of  the  opposition  he  found  on 
the  part  of  some  of  the  ministers  of  that  Church 
to  an  educated  ministry. 

"He  was  quite  poor,  had  struggled  hard  to 
secure  an  education,  and  was  rapidly  becoming 
unwilling  to  give  his  life  to  a  Church  where  so 
little  was,  at  that  time,  done  for  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation. His  replies  to  all  my  questions  convinced 
me  at  once  of  a  duty  I  owed  to  this  young  man. 
He  was  correct  and  exact  in  all  his  responses,  and 
gave  evidence  of  a  superior  mind.  I  said  to  him, 
'Please  meet  me  at  the  parsonage  to-night,  and 
we  will  continue  this  conversation.' 

"I  went  and  met  my  engagement,  and  re- 
turned to  the  home  of  my  friend  the  pastor.  The 
young  man  soon  after  came  in,  and  was  cordially 
greeted  by  the  family,  as  well  as  by  myself.  I 
said  to  him:  'Brother,  I  have  been  thinking  much 
about  our  conversation  this  afternoon,  and  I  am 
impressed  that  God  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  have  need  of  you.'  I  added:  'You  can 
better  your  condition  by  a  change  of  your  Church 
relations,  which  will  demand  no  change  in  your 
religious  views.  Suppose  you  allow  me  to  move 
in  this  change  of  your  Church  relations.  Come 
over  into  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  We 
can  give  you  a  larger  field  of  usefulness  in  the 
ministry,  without  any  material  change  in  senti- 
ment; and  employment  in  preaching  the  Gospel, 
without  burdening  you  five  days  in  each  week  with 
the  dull  routine  and  anxious  cares  of  a  pedagogue, 


26  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

and  thus  leaving  but  the  dull  remains  of  life  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry.  Come,  my  brother,  put 
your  case  in  my  hands  this  week.  I  am  going  to- 
morrow through  Lafayette,  and  I  will  see  Benja- 
min Winans,  presiding  elder  of  that  district.  I 
will  represent  you  and  your  condition  to  him,  as 

his  next  quarterly  meeting  in will  be  held 

three  weeks  from  Saturday.  I  will  ask  him  to  take 
your  name  to  the  Annual  Conference,  so  that  you 
may  receive  an  appointment,  under  a  presiding 
elder,  as  a  supply  on  some  circuit.  Then  the  reg- 
ular recommendation  from  some  Quarterly  Confer- 
ence can  be  taken  up  the  next  year.  I  will  stop 
on  my  way  home  and  get  all  ready  for  you  to 
make  the  change  in  your  Church  relations,  and  it 
will  be  for  God's  glory,  for  your  greater  useful- 
ness, and  will  afford  you  a  comfortable  support 
and  a  much  wider  field  of  usefulness.  Now  then, 
my  brother,  just  say,  "I  will,"  and,  under  God  and 
the  presiding  elder,  I  will  do  the  rest.' 

"He  was  much  moved  at  my  proposal.  He 
asked  several  pointed  questions  about  the  doctrines 
and  government  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  wanted  to  know  more  fully  of  the  re- 
quirements of  its  ministry.  I  found  that  fears 
were  rising  in  his  manly  mind  as  to  his  competency 
for  the  work  in  our  communion,  to  which  he  gave 
becoming  utterances,  and  to  which  I  gave  suitable 
responses.  After  struggling  exercises  of  mind, 
commingled  with  becoming  fears  of  inadequacy 
to  the  work,  he  at  length  responded :  'I  agree  with 
you,  sir,  in  sentiment,  and  I  put  my  application 
into  your  hands  and  the  presiding  elder's.'    I  said : 


Into  the  Methodist  Ministry.  27 

'Amen!  and  may  this  auspicious  interview  be  an 
augury  of  success,  with  God's  blessing!'  He  was 
at  once  received  into  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  by  Brother  Hays,  as  a  full  member,  on 
his  credentials  as  a  local  preacher  among  the  United 
Brethren. 

"The  next  day  I  found  the  presiding  elder, 
represented  the  matter,  and  met  with  the  heartiest 
co-operation.  All  the  doors  and  locks,  as  in  Peter's 
exodus  from  prison,  opened  of  themselves.  The 
Rev.  Brother  Joyce  rejoiced  in  the  happy  change 
that  had  taken  place  in  his  Church  relations." 
(Page  330.) 

Dr.  Moody  never  lost  his  interest  in  the  recruit 
he  had  secured  for  Methodism.  Pie  followed  his 
career  with  deepening  satisfaction  and  thankful- 
ness. And  when  at  last  he  lay  on  his  deathbed 
in  Mt.  Vernon,  Iowa,  he  asked  that  Dr.  Joyce — 
at  this  time  pastor  of  St.  Paul  Church,  Cincin- 
nati— should  preach  his  funeral  sermon.  This 
service  Dr.  Joyce  tenderly  and  gratefully  ren- 
dered. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Circuit-Rider. 

IT  was  in  June,  1858,  that  Mr.  Joyce,  then 
nearly  twenty-two  years  of  age,  united  with 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  His  stand- 
ing as  a  local  preacher  in  the  United  Brethren 
Church  gave  him  that  relation  also  in  the  Meth- 
odist Church.  He  attended  the  session  of  the 
Northwest  Indiana  Conference  at  Valparaiso,  in 
September,  and  was  given  work  as  a  "supply." 

Rolling  Prairie  Circuit,  in  the  region  near 
LaPorte,  in  the  extreme  northwestern  section  of 
Indiana,  was  his  field  of  work,  and  he  was  to  be 
the  junior  preacher,  his  colleague  and  chief  being 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Hackney.  On  returning  from 
Conference  he  immediately  began  preparations  to 
go  to  his  new  field  of  labor.  His  father  gave  him 
a  horse,  a  saddle  and  bridle,  and  two  dollars  and 
a  quarter  in  cash.  We  are  particular  about  men- 
tioning the  quarter,  because  that  was  all  the  money 
he  had  left  when  he  reached  his  new  home.  The 
rest  of  his  belongings  included  his  clothes,  his 
Bible,  Hymn  Book,  and  Discipline,  all  of  which 

28 


Isaac   w.  Joyce 

AT    THE    AGE    OF    22    YEARS 


The  Circuit-Rider.  29 

were  packed  into  a  pair  of  saddlebags.  With  this 
extensive  outfit  he  started  for  his  appointment, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  away.  It  took  three 
days  to  make  the  journey.  Several  times  on  the 
way  the  horse  was  fed  while  the  rider  went  hungry, 
because  it  was  important  that  the  horse  should  be 
able  to  carry  his  load  to  the  end  of  the  journey, 
and  there  was  not  enough  money  to  furnish  plenty 
for  both.  So  young  Joyce  omitted  his  own  noon 
meals,  and  would  sing  the  hymns  of  Zion  to  enable 
him  to  forget  his  hunger.  He  would  also  shout 
and  praise  God  for  having  saved  his  soul. 

"No  foot  of  land  do  I  possess, 
No  cottage  in  this  wilderness," 

made  glorious  music  in  those  Indiana  woods,  when 
sung  by  men  who  had  laid  their  all  on  God's  altar. 
Many  of  the  hymns  he  loved  best  he  committed  to 
memory. 

At  the  close  of  the  third  day  he  reached  the 
hospitable  home  of  Rev.  Levi  Moore,  a  local 
preacher  on  the  Rolling  Prairie  Circuit.  Here  he 
was  warmly  welcomed  and  made  to  feel  at  home 
from  the  first.  Mrs.  Moore  proved  a  true  and 
kind  mother  to  the  young  circuit-rider,  and  he 
always  cherished  tender  memories  of  his  first  ex- 
periences in  the  home  of  these  loyal   Methodists. 

His  salary  was  one  hundred  dollars  in  money, 


30  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

and  board.  The  latter  he  obtained  by  "boarding 
round"  among  the  members.  In  order  to  supple- 
ment the  small  salary,  Mr.  Joyce  taught  during 
the  school  months.  It  was  while  being  entertained 
in  the  home  of  one  of  his  pupils  that  he  met  the 
young  lady  who  afterwards  became  his  wife — Miss 
Caroline  Walker  Bosserman,  daughter  of  George 
and  Frances  Toney  Bosserman.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  the  Bosserman  home  became  a  favorite 
stopping-place  with  the  junior  preacher  of  that 
circuit  from  that  time  on. 

Notwithstanding  the  double  work  of  teacher 
and  preacher,  young  Joyce  devoted  himself  ener- 
getically to  his  books.  All  his  spare  time  was 
spent  with  them.  And  the  year  quickly  and  hap- 
pily passed  away. 

Among  the  papers  of  Bishop  Joyce  was  found 
a  renewal  of  his  license  as  a  local  preacher,  which 
was  granted  in  August  of  the  year  1859.  At  this 
time  he  spelled  his  name  "Joice."  It  was  not  until 
1863  that  he  changed  it  to  the  generally  accepted 
spelling,  "Joyce." 

Isaac  W.  Joice,  the  bearer,  license  renewed  as 
a  local  preacher  in  the  M.  E.  Church.  Done  at  a 
Quarterly  Conference  held  in  Portland,  Rolling 
Prairie  Circuit,  N.  W.  hid.  Conf.,  South  Bend 
Dist. 

August  6,  1859.  T.  S.  Webb,  P.  E. 


The  Circuit-Rider.  31 

In  September,  1859,  the  Conference  met  at 
Greencastle.  Bishop  Morris  was  the  bishop  in 
charge.  There  Mr.  Joyce  was  admitted  into  the 
Conference  "on  trial,"  as  the  Methodist  term  is. 
In  the  same  class  with  him  were  J.  H.  Cissel, 
E.  W.  Lawhon,  J.  H.  Staley,  and  others.  The 
first  two  of  these  died  the  same  year  that  Bishop 
Joyce  died. 

If  any  one  had  told  young  Joyce  that  in  eight- 
een years  he  would  be  the  pastor  of  the  leading 
Greencastle  Church  he  would  have  charged  them 
with  folly,  while  the  exalted  position  of  a  bishop 
was  beyond  his  wildest  dreams.  He  hoped  to  make 
an  effective  circuit  preacher,  and  perhaps  after  a 
long  time  to  reach  a  "station." 

At  the  Greencastle  Conference  he  was  appointed 
junior  preacher  of  Romney  Circuit,  near  Lafay- 
ette, his  senior  colleague  being  the  Rev.  Frank 
Pierce.  This  circuit  had  only  twelve  appoint- 
ments, while  his  previous  charge  had  had  sixteen. 
He  could  get  around  to  each  of  the  Romney  ap- 
pointments every  three  weeks. 

The  home  of  Mr.  Wesley  White,  of  Linden, 
was  the  junior  preacher's  home,  and  he  found  there 
most  congenial  friends.  Their  sympathy  was  ex- 
pressed in  many  ways,  some  of  them  very  substan- 
tial. For  years  it  was  a  joy  to  him  to  pay  an 
annual  visit  to  this  lovely  family. 


32  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

The  next  Conference,  that  of  1860,  met  at 
Terre  Haute.  Bishop  Simpson  presided.  The 
pastor  of  the  West  Lebanon  Circuit  said  to  Joyce : 
"I  hope  you  will  not  be  appointed  to  West  Leb- 
anon Circuit.  It  is  the  hardest  appointment  in 
the  Conference."  Both  young  men  took  it  for 
granted  that  he  would  receive  a  new  charge,  for 
in  those  days  no  young  preacher  was  kept  on  a 
circuit  for  more  than  one  year. 

But  when  the  bishop  arose  to  read  the  appoint- 
ments, and  that  deathly  stillness  came  upon  the 
Conference,  which  always  comes  when  many  men 
do  not  know  what  their  fate  is  to  be  for  the  en- 
suing twelve  months — it  may  mean  life  or  death 
to  wife  or  child,  or  the  preacher — he  announced, 
"West  Lebanon  Circuit,  Isaac  W.  Joyce." 

When  Mr.  Joyce  reached  the  circuit  he  found 
twenty  appointments  scattered  over  a  very  large 
territory.  He  made  the  rounds  once  in  three 
weeks,  but  had  to  preach  much  of  the  year  four 
times  a  Sunday  in  order  to  do  it.  He  had  good 
meetings  at  several  of  his  points,  and  received  sub- 
stantial additions  to  the  membership. 

On  March  20,  1861,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Bosserman,  to  whom  he  had  been  engaged  since 
leaving  the  Rolling  Prairie  Circuit.  There  was 
no  parsonage,  and  one  hundred  dollars  a  year 
salary  was  hardly  sufficient  to  support  two — espe- 


The  Circvit-Ridcr.  33 

cially  when  it  was  paid  in  depreciated  State  bank 
bills,  cutting  its  actual  value  to  sixty-five  dollars; 
so  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joyce  "boarded  around"  among 
the  members  until  the  Conference  in  the  fall.  The 
people  were  kind  and  hospitable,  so  the  experience 
was  not  an  unpleasant  one.  Mr.  Joyce  recorded 
that  he  "moved"  six  times  that  Conference  year. 

His  wife  had  to  read  to  him  the  books  for  his 
Conference  course  of  study  that  summer,  as  he  was 
suffering  from  an  affliction  of  the  eyes  which  par- 
tially blinded  him  for  the  time.  So  Watson's 
"Institutes"  and  Wesley's  "Notes"  came  to  him 
second-hand. 

Up  to  this  time  the  young  circuit-rider  had 
had  only  the  hardest  appointments.  He  had  been 
learning  to  preach,  and  attending  wrhat  the 
preachers  humorously  called  "Brush  College." 
The  data  of  this  period  are  very  scanty.  But 
evidently  he  had  made  a  good  impression,  for  we 
find  at  the  Conference  that  fall,  1861,  held  at 
South  Bend,  Mr.  Joyce  received  a  substantial  pro- 
motion. He  was  ordained  deacon,  admitted  into 
full  membership  in  the  Conference,  and  sent  to 
Covington  Circuit,  Covington  being  a  county-seat, 
and  the  circuit  having  but  four  appointments. 
The  salary  was  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
and  they  paid  him  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
3 


Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 


a  princely  sum  compared  with  what  he  had  been 
receiving  the  three  previous  years. 

On  March  18th  of  the  following  year  a  son 
was  born  to  them,  whom  they  called  Frank  Mel- 
ville. He  is  now  Colonel  Frank  M.  Joyce,  of 
Minneapolis,  Minnesota,  prominent  in  business  cir- 
cles in  the  Central  West. 

Mr.  J.  F.  Compton,  of  Penysville,  Indiana, 
was  a  teacher  in  the  town  schools  of  Covington, 
and  writes  as  follows  concerning  Mr.  Joyce's  pas- 
torate : 

"In  the  year  1862,  when  the  writer  went  to 
take  charge  of  the  town  schools  in  Covington,  we 
found  Rev.  Isaac  W.  Joyce  in  charge  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church  at  that  place.  For  a  time  he  and  his 
good  wife  gave  me  a  home  with  them.  His  family 
consisted  of  himself,  his  wife,  and  his  son  Frank, 
then  a  babe. 

"I  found  there  a  happy  Christian  family,  a 
model  home,  and  a  delightful  companionship. 
During  my  stay  with  them  was  laid  the  foundation 
of  a  lasting  and  sincere  friendship.  Brother  Joyce 
did  not  possess  much  of  this  world's  goods.  But 
he  did  possess  a  genial  disposition,  fine  social  qual- 
ities, and  a  warm  heart,  which  enabled  him  to  win 
friends  among  all  classes  of  society  and  wherever 
he  went. 

"While  Brother  Joyce  was  popular  in  the  social 
circle,  his  power  as  a  preacher  gave  him  a  still 
greater  influence  over  the  people.  .  .  .  From  a 
humble  beginning  he  labored  without  marked  re- 


The  Circuit-Rider.  35 

suits  until  the  second  year  of  his  pastorate,  when, 
under  God's  blessings,  he  won  the  hearts  of  busi- 
ness men,  men  of  the  world  and  young  people,  and 
many  a  hardened  sinner.  He  then  and  there  had 
on  his  hands  a  widespread,  glorious  revival,  such 
as  that  Church  and  town  had  never  experienced 
before.  Scores  of  people,  young  and  old,  and  from 
many  walks  of  life,  fell  before  its  power,  and  were 
thoroughly  converted.  Many  young  men  and 
women  were  blessed  in  that  revival,  whose  lives  have 
since  been  examples  of  God's  saving  grace,  and 
who  have  gone  out  from  there  to  bless  the  world. 
The  writer  bears  testimony  from  a  grateful  heart 
to  his  fidelity  as  a  personal  friend,  and  to  the  influ- 
ence and  inspiration  of  his  great  service,  and  to 
the  faithfulness  of  his  great,  loving  heart." 

A  year  or  two  before  Bishop  Joyce's  death  he 
received  a  letter  from  an  old  friend  of  the  Coving- 
ton days,  which  gives  so  vivid  a  description  of 
Mr.  Joyce's  methods,  as  well  as  the  strong  hold  lie 
secured  on  men,  that  we  give  it  entire.  The  writer 
is  a  prominent  attorney  in  Kansas  City,  Missouri: 

"My  Dear  Brother  Joyce: 

"The  brief  interview  we  had  as  you  were  leav- 
ing here  last  Saturday  has  brought  fresh  to  me 
many  endearing  remembrances,  reaching  back  to 
the  verge  of  life's  springtime,  when  there  was  no 
sorrow  in  the  day,  and  no  winter  in  the  year. 
Some  of  these  recollections  have  been  often  re- 
called, and  have  been  long  cherished;  while  others 


36  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

come  to  me  like  a  lost  strain  of  music,  or  a  for- 
gotten dream. 

"When  you  and  I  first  met,  we  were  in  the 
lustihood  of  young  manhood.  Neither  of  us  was 
then  married.  But  I  was  'going  to  see'  the  young 
lady  who  became  my  wife,  while  you  were  'riding 
the  circuit'  (the  Rolling  Prairie)  on  which  was  an 
'appointment'  in  a  schoolhouse  near  her  home.  We 
sometimes  walked  over  to  that  schoolhouse  on  Sun- 
day afternoons  to  hear  you  preach;  and  she  it  was 
who  introduced  me  to  you. 

"Later  on,  when  we  had  moved  to  Covington, 
you  were  sent  to  that  charge,  and  brought  your 
young  wife  with  you.  There  were  then  two  happy 
young  couples  in  that  town  that  we  know  of.  They 
still  live,  and  I  hope  may  enjoy  a  correspondingly 
happy  old  age. 

"When  you  came  it  was  a  critical  time  in  my 
religious  life.  The  subtle  moral  blight  always  in- 
cident to  civil  war  was  beginning  to  show  itself. 
All  my  associates  at  the  Covingon  bar  were  irre- 
ligious,  Birch   having   gone   to   the   war.      I   had 

known  at  college,  and  he  and  were  my 

most  intimate  friends  outside  the  bar.  They  were 
bright  companionable  men,  but  all  wrong  morally. 

"Our  Church  at  Covington  was  almost  in  a 
state  of  collapse,  and  was  uninviting.  I  had  been 
a  member  of  the  Church  for  some  three  years  at 
Greencastle  (at  Asbury  University),  but  not  an 
active  one,  there  being  so  many  others  there  better 
fitted  for  active  work.  When  you  came,  however, 
your  aggressiveness  and  courage  challenged  my  ad- 
miration. You  pressed  me  into  the  service,  and 
pushed  me  forward  in  Church  work.     That  was 


The  Circuit-Rider.  37 

exactly  what  I  needed.  I  was  a  little  reluctant  at 
first,  but  soon  came  to  see,  that  while  you  needed 
me,  I  needed  you  still  more.  I  enjoyed  your  com- 
panionship and  prized  your  friendship,  and 
through  your  help  and  influence  I  grew  to  be,  in 
a  small  way,  a  sort  of  stand-by  in  that  Church, 
and  was  a  class  leader  when  I  left  to  come  here. 

"But  our  paths  in  life  soon  diverged,  and  you 
have  never  known  the  sense  of  obligation  I  have 
been  under  to  you  for  all  these  years.  I  there- 
fore now  write  you  this  plain,  unvarnished  state- 
ment, so  that  you  may  know  that  I  do  not  forget, 
nor   fail   to   appreciate   your   timely   help   in   the 

g  ago. 

"And  now  allow  me  to  add  that  when  you  were 
elected  bishop,  I  believed  the  Church  would  be 
benefited  thereby ;  but  I  could  not  bring  myself 
to  feel  that  in  any  true  sense  it  was  for  you  a  pro- 
motion. To  my  mind,  the  highest  position  in  our 
Church,  and  the  hardest  to  fill  properly,  is  that  of 
'preacher  in  charge.'  You  always  had  revivals, 
and  for  the  best  part  of  your  life  were  a  success- 
ful preacher  and  pastor.  And  I  sometimes  wonder 
if  you  do  not  often  experience  a  sort  of  feeling 
of  isolation  in  your  present  position.  For  while 
you  meet  the  preachers  and  the  Church  officials, 
you  doubtless  miss  that  heart-to-heart  contact  with 
the  people  in  their  every-day  life  and  experiences, 
which  only  a  pastor  can  have.  However  this  may 
be,  I  am  sure  that  your  old  age  will  be  rich  in  the 
memories  of  your  active  life  as  a  pastor.  The 
older  we  grow,  the  more  do  we  delight  to  live  over 
again  the  past.  This  is  one  of  the  compensations 
of  age. 


38  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

"With  kindest  regards  of  myself  and  wife  to 
you  and  yours,  believe  me  as  ever, 
"Sincerely  your  friend, 

"L.  C.  Slavens." 

To  have  won  one  such  eminent  layman  as  the 
writer  of  the  above  letter  was  worth  Mr.  Joyce's 
two  years'  work  at  Covington. 

In  the  fall  of  1863  the  Conference  met  at 
Michigan  City,  Bishop  Morris  presiding.  Mr. 
Joyce  was  ordained  elder,  and  was  appointed  to 
Williamsport,  the  county  seat  of  Warren  County, 
the  adjoining  county  north  of  Fountain  County, 
of  which  Covington  was  the  county  seat.  The  two- 
year  time-limit  was  still  in  force,  being  changed 
to  three  years  the  next  year.  Williamsport  was  a 
"station;"  that  is,  had  no  country  appointments 
attached.  This  was  Mr.  Joyce's  first  station,  and 
his  friends  regarded  it  as  a  promotion.  Often 
there  is  as  much  felicitation  with  circuit  preachers 
over  being  promoted  to  a  station  as  there  is  among 
leaders  in  the  ministry  over  being  chosen  to  a 
General  Conference  position. 

The  increased  income  which  his  new  appoint- 
ment brought  he  welcomed  as  an  opportunity  to 
buy  books.  And  it  was  with  joy  that  he  saw  his 
little  library  growing  steadily.  Often  he  would 
say  to  his  wife:  "I  am  so  glad  you  would  rather 
I  would  buy  books  than  to  use  the  salary  for  less 
important  things." 


The  Circuit-Rider.  39 

During  the  first  year  of  his  Williamsport  pas- 
torate an  incident  occurred  which  came  near  termi- 
nating Mr.  Joyce's  life.  There  were  two  saloons 
in  the  town  which  were  doing  a  great  deal  of 
damage;  more,  the  Church  people  felt,  than  the 
Churches  could  offset  by  their  efforts.  Under  the 
leadership  of  Mr.  Joyce  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Steele, 
the  Presbyterian  minister,  the  better  element  of 
the  community  succeeded  in  defeating  the  appli- 
cations of  these  men  for  a  renewal  of  license.  This 
so  incensed  these  men  and  their  friends  that  they 
attempted  to  murder  both  ministers.  The  Presby- 
terian minister  lived  on  the  second  floor  of  a  dwell- 
ing. Some  unknown  person  called  for  him  to  come 
down  stairs,  but  he  refused  to  do  so.  The  same 
night  two  men  came  to  the  Methodist  parsonage. 
A  window  shade  was  up  from  the  bottom,  and  they 
could  see  Mr.  Joyce  sitting  by  his  book  case,  read- 
ing. A  bullet  crashed  through  the  window,  barely 
missing  Mr.  Joyce's  head,  and  buried  itself  in  the 
book  case.  Two  books  were  mutilated  by  the  ball. 
There  was  no  way  of  proving  who  did  the  shoot- 
ing, although  the  act  provoked  intense  indignation 
throughout  the  community.  As  the  two  saloon 
men  left  the  town  immediately,  there  was  no  doubt 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  as  to  who  the  guilty 
persons  were.  Mr.  Joyce  carried  the  bullet  for 
years  as  a  souvenir  of  the  perilous  experience. 


40  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

Good  revivals  were  had  during  both  years  of 
his  stay  in  Williamsport,  and  the  Church  pros- 
pered under  his  care.  On  July  5th  of  his  first  year 
there,  1864,  a  second  son  was  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Joyce.  They  called  him  Wilbur  Bruce.  The 
little  one  was  not  to  tarry  long,  for  fifteen  months 
later  he  died. 

It  was  at  Delphi  that  their  baby's  death  oc- 
curred, in  October  of  1865.  It  was  their  first 
sorrow,  and  their  grief  was  great.  Mr.  Joyce  had 
been  appointed  to  the  Delphi  Church  at  the  Con- 
ference held  the  month  previous.  Delphi  is  on 
the  Wabash  River,  about  fifty  or  sixty  miles  above 
Williamsport,  which  is  also  on  the  Wabash.  Mr. 
Joyce  had  a  good  year  at  Delphi,  and  fully  ex- 
pected to  return  when  he  went  to  the  Conference 
of  1866,  which  was  held  at  Laporte,  Bishop  Ames 
presiding.  But  a  strong  request  came  to  the 
bishop  for  his  appointment  to  a  much  stronger 
Church — Ninth  Street,  Lafayette,  and  the  bishop 
made  the  appointment. 

While  the  new  charge  was  gratifying  from  the 
view-point  of  larger  opportunity  and  promotion, 
yet  it  was  with  sad  hearts  that  they  turned  away 
from  Delphi.  Some  precious  friendships  had  been 
formed  there,  and  a  little  mound  in  the  cemetery 
made  the  place  one  of  the  dearest  spots  on  earth 
to  this  itinerant  and  his  wife. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Ten  Years  in  Lafayette. 

WHEN  Bishop  Ames  read  out  the  name 
"Isaac  W.  Joyce"  for  Ninth!  Street 
Church,  Lafayette,  at  the  Conference 
held  at  Laporte,  in  1866,  it  was  felt  by  many  to 
be  an  astonishing  promotion  for  a  young  man  of 
twenty-nine,  who  had  been  a  member  of  the  Con- 
ference in  full  connection  only  five  years.  Some 
of  the  older  men  shook  their  heads,  and  declared 
that  a  blunder  had  been  made. 

As  for  the  appointee  himself,  he  went  with  fear 
and  trembling  to  his  city  appointment.  He  had 
always  lived  in  the  country,  or  in  towns  that  were 
scarcely  larger  than  villages.  Now  he  was  to  meet 
the  problems  of  a  city  Church.  Such  an  experi- 
ence is  always  an  intensely  interesting  and  anxious 
one  to  ministers,  and  to  their  friends  as  well,  for 
it  usually  means  either  the  "making  or  breaking" 
of  the  preacher. 

Mr.  Joyce  followed  Dr.  Aaron  Wood,  one  of 
the  pioneer  preachers  of  the  Conference,  and  who 
is    still    held    in    loving    and    venerated    memory 
41 


42  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

throughout  Indiana.  When  the  new  preacher  was 
moving  into  the  parsonage,  and  Mrs.  Wood,  fa- 
miliarly known  as  "Auntie  Wood,"  was  packing 
up  to  move  out,  sympathy  was  expressed  that  such 
veterans  should  have  to  move  so  often.  Auntie 
Wood  cheerily  replied:  "What  is  the  use  of  being 
a  soldier  if  you  do  not  drill?"  It  was  that  spirit 
that  made  Methodism.  The  epic  of  the  devotion 
shown  by  these  unheralded  heroes  and  heroines  of 
the  Cross  has  never  yet  been  penned. 

Three  years  were  spent  at  Ninth  Street,  with 
steadily  gaining  favor  among  the  people.  Each 
year  his  Church  was  visited  with  a  gracious  re- 
vival. The  membership  increased  and  every  inter- 
est of  the  Church  prospered. 

Lafayette  is  in  the  center  of  one  of  the  most 
productive  and  beautiful  sections  of  Indiana,  and 
from  an  early  day  has  been  a  prosperous  and 
highly  intelligent  community.  It  is  now  the  seat 
of  Purdue  University,  though  at  the  time  of  Mr. 
Joyce's  pastorates  there  that  vigorous  college  had 
not  yet  been  founded.  Methodism  was  strong 
through  all  that  region,  and  Lafayette  was  the 
head  of  one  of  the  principal  districts  of  the  Con- 
ference and  State. 

On  completing  his  third  year  at  Ninth  Street, 
the  Conference  met  in  that  Church.  Bishop  Clark, 
who  presided,  was  so  impressed  with  the  ability  of 


Ten   Years  in  Lafayette.  43 

Mr.  Joyce  that,  though  the  latter  was  only  thirty- 
two  years  of  age,  he  made  him  presiding  elder  of 
the  Lafayette  District.  Presiding  elder  after  ten 
years  in  the  ministry,  and  that  in  one  of  the  strong 
Conferences  of  the  Central  West !  It  is  doubtful 
if  the  case  had  been  paralleled  in  the  history  of 
Methodism  in  the  settled  part  of  the  country,  save 
in  the  career  of  Bishop  Walden.  The  exigencies 
of  frontier  or  missionary  work  have  occasionally 
required  this  early  promotion  of  men  to  the  pre- 
siding eldership. 

Mr.  Joyce  bore  his  honors  with  becoming  mod- 
esty and  discharged  with  zeal  and  care  the  duties 
of  his  office.  Those  who  knew  him  in  those  days 
say  that  he  was  especially  insistent  on  his  young 
men  buying  books  and  preparing  themselves  care- 
fully for  their  pulpit  work.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  he  drew  the  young  men  of  the  Conference  to 
him  with  the  strongest  bonds,  and  that  to  many 
of  them  he  became  their  ideal.  An  interesting  pic- 
ture of  him  at  this  period  is  that  drawn  by  the 
Rev.  E.  R.  Dille,  D.  D.,  of  First  Church,  Oakland, 
California,  for  many  years  past  one  of  the  leaders 
of  our  Pacific  Coast  Methodism : 

"I  first  knew  Isaac  W.  Joyce  in  1867,  when  he 
was  presiding  elder  of  the  Lafayette  District, 
Northwest  Indiana  Conference.  I  see  him  yet  in 
my  mind's  eye  as  he  appeared  then  to  my  boyish 


44  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

vision — tall,  straight,  slender,  a  broad,  white  brow, 
a  pale,  intellectual  face,  a  flashing  eye,  a  com- 
manding presence — a  born  orator,  a  born  leader 
of  men. 

"Already  in  his  young  manhood  his  preaching 
was  characterized  by  that  fire  and  fervor,  and  that 
rare,  magnetic  quality  which  ever  made  him  a 
master  of  assemblies.  I  remember  to  this  day  a 
sermon  he  preached  in  1868  on  'For  we  can  do 
nothing  against  the  truth,  but  for  the  truth' — and 
its  divisions  seemed  like  links  of  steel  over  which 
leaped  a  line  of  electric  fire. 

"Dr.  Joyce,  in  1870,  gave  me  license  to  preach, 
and  while  we  were  in  the  same  Conference,  and 
indeed  ever  since,  he  has  been  my  father  in  the 
Gospel — my  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend.  From 
him  as  much  as  from  any  other  man  have  I  re- 
ceived my  inspiration  and  my  ideals." 

As  the  end  of  his  term  as  presiding  elder  drew 
near,  he  frequently  expressed  his  eagerness  to  re- 
turn to  the  pastorate.  His  affectionate  nature 
longed  for  the  close  association  with  the  people 
which  the  pastorate  alone  furnishes. 

It  was  a  notable  compliment  and  the  strongest 
possible  indorsement  of  his  seven  years'  work  in 
Lafayette  that  Trinity  Church  of  that  city, 
the  leading  Church  of  the  Conference,  invited  him 
to  become  its  pastor  at  the  close  of  his  term  on 
the  district,  in  the  fall  of  1873.  At  the  Confer- 
ence in  September  the  appointment  was  made. 


Ten  Years  in  Lafayette.  45 

His  three  years  at  that  Church  were  full  of 
hard  work.  They  taxed  him  to  the  utmost,  not 
only  because  the  highly  intelligent  character  of 
the  congregation  required  the  most  careful  prepa- 
ration for  his  pulpit  efforts,  but  because  he  had 
been  so  many  years  in  that  city,  as  that  not  only 
every  sermon,  but  every  plan  and  method,  had  to 
be  new — had  to  be  coined  fresh  from  the  mint  of 
his  resources. 

It  was  a  notable  pastorate,  and  the  fruit  of  it 
remains  still.  In  addition  to  his  pulpit  and  pas- 
toral work  he  taught  a  large  Bible  class  of  adults, 
which  practically  amounted  to  preaching  a  third 
sermon  each  Sabbath.  But  the  appreciation  with 
which  his  work  was  received,  and  his  constantly 
enlarging  influence,  made  his  labors  a  joy  to  him. 
In  his  letters  to  his  most  intimate  friends  the  high 
spirits  bubble  over  frequently.  Writing  to  an  in- 
timate friend,  the  Rev.  William  McK.  Darwood, 
at  this  time,  he  says: 

"Lafayette,  Indiana,  Oct.  10,  1873. 
"My  Dear  Brother  Darwood  : 

"I  received  your  letter  and  was  much  pleased 
to  hear  from  you  all.  We  are  in  good  health  and 
about  as  busy  as  you  ever  saw  white  folks.  The 
Trinity  people  have  given  me  a  hearty  welcome, 
and  everything  is  just  as  nice  and  pleasant  as  I 
could  desire.  ...  I  am  at  work  among  my  own 
people,  and  am  having  a  good  time.   .  .   .  Every- 


46  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

body  is  in  a  good  humor,  and  I  am  feeling  splen- 
didly. My  congregations  are  much  better  than 
I  thought  they  would  be,  and  members  of  the  Offi- 
cial Board  tell  me  that  they  are  satisfied  that  in 
three  months  the  congregations  will  be  double  the 
present  size.  Since  my  return  home  (from  Confer- 
ence) I  have  had  four  funerals  and  four  weddings. 
Funerals  are  not  pleasant  services;  but  the  wed- 
dings— the  more  the  merrier! 

"Yours  ever,  I.  W.  Joyce." 

Writing  six  weeks  later  to  the  same  friend, 
Mr.  Joyce  said: 

"I  am  having  the  best  time  I  have  ever  had  in 
all  my  life.  True,  my  work  is  very  hard;  but  my 
congregations  are  so  very  nice  and  kind,  and  my 
Church  is  so  perfectly  splendid,  and  all  my  sur- 
roundings so  agreeable,  that  I  am  very  happy  in 
my  work.  My  congregations  have  almost  doubled. 
My  Sunday-school  is  growing.  My  own  class  has 
grown  from  ten  to  forty  persons.  My  salary  is 
to  be  two  thousand  dollars." 

A  little  later  he  conducted  his  winter's  revival 
meetings,  having  a  successful  series,  and  doing 
the  work  himself  from  night  to  night.  A  char- 
acteristic utterance  to  a  friend,  in  a  letter  written 
February  9,  1874,  was:  "God  is,  by  His  grace, 
giving  us  the  victory.  I  am  determined  to  work 
for  His  glory  with  all  the  power  I  have." 

His  Trinity  Church  pastorate  covered  the  years 


Ten   Years  in  Lafayette.  47 

of  financial  panic,  which  began  in  1873.     Writing 
to  his  friend  Darwood  in  October,  1874,  he  said: 

"Money  is  very  close  and  business  dull,  but  I 
believe  God  will  turn  all  this  to  the  spiritual  good 
of  the  people.  If  souls  are  converted,  we  can  very 
well  consent  to  live  on  a  few  less  dollars." 

In  March,  1875,  Mr.  Joyce  suffered  a  very 
severe  illness.  For  a  time  it  was  doubtful  whether 
he  would  recover.  Congestion  of  the  brain  was 
the  diagnosis.  On  rallying  from  this,  rheumatism 
set  in,  and  for  weeks  he  was  confined  to  the  house. 
When  able  to  travel  he  and  Mrs.  Joyce  took  a  trip 
to  Baltimore,  and  he  returned  to  his  work  after 
some  weeks  much  strengthened.  During  all  the 
rest  of  his  Lafayette  pastorate,  however,  his  health 
remained  precarious,  verging  on  nervous  prostra- 
tion, the  result  of  almost  continuous  overwork. 

When  the  time  drew  near  that  his  pastoral  term 
at  Lafayette  should  cease,  the  brethren  of  the  offi- 
ciary met  and  adopted  the  following  resolutions: 

"Trinity    Methodist    Episcopal    Church,   La- 
fayette, Indiana. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Official  Board  of  Trinity 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  held  on  Monday 
evening,  July  31,  1876,  Henry  Taylor  in  the  chair, 
and  Charles  A.  Reynolds  Secretary,  the  following 
resolutions  were  adopted: 

"Whereas,  In  conformity  with  the  laws  of  our 


48  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

Church  it  becomes  necessary  that  the  pastoral  rela- 
tion existing  between  our  dear  brother,  Isaac  W. 
Jo}rce,  and  this  congregation,  shall  terminate  with 
the  present  Conference  year ;  therefore  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  in  severing  this  relation  we 
lose  a  faithful  and  tender  shepherd,  a  wise  coun- 
selor and  teacher,  a  true  friend,  and  a  ready  sym- 
pathizer. 

"Resolved,  That  wherever  he  may  go,  he  bears 
with  him  our  earnest  and  united  prayers  for  his 
success,  health,  and  happiness ;  and  should  he  ever, 
in  the  good  providence  of  God,  be  returned  to  us, 
he  will  receive  a  hearty  welcome. 

"Resolved,  That  we  herein  express  to  Brother 
Joyce  our  appreciation  of  his  efforts  in  the  ex- 
position of  Scripture  truth,  his  zeal  for  the  salva- 
tion of  souls,  especially  of  our  young  people,  his 
watchful  care  over  the  lambs  of  the  flock,  his 
promptness  in  meeting  all  the  issues  brought  be- 
fore the  Church  and  the  public;  and  for  the  per- 
fect harmony  and  brotherly  love  which  has  pre- 
vailed during  his  administration. 

"Resolved,  That  to  his  wife,  our  dear  sister, 
Mrs.  Carrie  W.  Joyce,  we  have  become  attached 
by  the  most  endearing  bonds,  and  for  her  faithful 
performance  of  all  duties  devolving  upon  her,  for 
the  manifestation  of  a  calm,  heroic  faith  in  hours 
of  trial,  and  for  her  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  the 
young  people  under  her  care,  we  owe  lasting  grati- 
tude, and  will  ever  cherish  her  memory. 

"Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions 
with  our  signatures  attached  be  presented  to  our 
beloved  pastor  and  his  wife,  and  that  they  be  pub- 


Ten   Years  in  Lafayette.  49 

lished  in  our  city  papers,  and  placed  in  full  upon 
our  book  of  records. 
"G.  H.  Hull,  Henry  Taylor, 

Curtis  E.  Wells,     John  L.  Miller, 
William  A.  Ford,    John  C.  Brockenbrough, 
H.  T.  Sample,  William  P.  Heath, 

A.  W.  Abbott,  Charles  A.  Reynolds, 

Jno.  F.  Smith,  Robert  W.  Sample, 

C.  G.  Miller." 

The  Bible  class  in  the  Sunday-school  which 
Mr.  Joyce  had  taught,  presented  him  at  a  preced- 
ing Christmas  with  an  expensive  and  beautiful  gold 
watch,  which  he  carried  until  his  death.  He  cher- 
ished it  with  peculiar  pleasure.  Indeed,  the  mem- 
ory of  his  entire  Lafayette  pastorate  was  always 
a  very  precious  one  to  him. 

When  it  came  time  to  leave  the  city  where  he 
had  spent  ten  happy  years,  and  where  he  had  be- 
come so  integral  a  part  of  the  city's  very  li.fe, 
and  especially  of  the  life  of  Methodism,  it  was  like 
the  breaking  of  heart-strings.  The  packing  up 
and  storing  away  of  goods,  and  the  saying  of 
"good-bye,"  was  as  sad  as  a  funeral.  "The  pas- 
tor came  to  the  city  in  the  centennial  year  of 
American  Methodism,  1866,  and  left  it  in  the  cen- 
tennial year  of  American  independence,  1876." 

During  Mr.  Joyce's  last  year  at  Lafayette, 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred 
upon  him  by  Dickinson  College.  Considering  the 
4 


50  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

fact  that  he  had  not  yet  reached  his  fortieth  birth- 
day, and  remembering  also  the  standing  of  the  in- 
stitution, the  honor  was  a  notable  one.  The  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Laws  was  given  him  by  the  University 
of  the  Pacific  in  1891. 

At  the  session  of  the  Northwest  Indiana  Con- 
ference in  September,  1875,  his  brethren  in  the 
ministry  paid  him  the  high  mark  of  confidence  of 
electing  him  a  reserve  delegate  to  the  General  Con- 
ference, which  was  to  meet  the  following  May  in 
Baltimore. 

Upon  his  election  as  bishop,  twelve  years  later, 
Dr.  Joyce  received  from  Lafayette  the  following 
telegram : 

"Dr.  I.  W.  Joyce, 

"Methodist  General  Conference,  New  York: 
"All  Lafayette   joins   in   extending   congratu- 
lations to  Bishop  Joyce." 

His  Lafayette  friends  were  loyal  and  loving 
through  all  the  years. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Pastorates   at   Baltimore   and   Greencastle. 

A  T  the  close  of  ten  years  of  service  in  Lafay- 
f\  ette  as  pastor  and  presiding  elder,  Dr. 
Joyce  took  a  supernumerary  relation  in 
his  Conference  for  one  year,  as  his  health  was  im- 
paired. For  several  years  he  had  had  a  continual 
fight  with  ill-health.  Nervous  prostration  seemed 
imminent.  At  this  time  Mr.  Charles  J.  Baker, 
a  wealthy  layman  of  Baltimore,  came  to  Lafayette 
on  a  visit  to  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Joyce,  the  latter  being 
his  cousin  by  marriage.  Mr.  Baker  was  the  lead- 
ing spirit  of  Bethany  Church,  Baltimore,  an  inde- 
pendent Methodist  congregation.  Mr.  Baker  pro- 
posed that  Dr.  Joyce  become  its  pastor  tempo- 
rarily. On  receiving  an  invitation  from  the  Church 
also,  Dr.  Joyce  consented.  And  in  October,  1876, 
he  became  pastor  of  that  Church,  situated  in  the 
western  part  of  the  city  of  Baltimore.  The  ar- 
rangements were  such  that  Dr.  Joyce  could  reside 
in  the  country,  at  Athol,  at  the  beautiful  home  of 
Mr.  Baker,  and  give  such  time  as  his  health  per- 
mitted to  the  work  of  the  Church  in  the  city.  Dr. 
51 


52  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

Joyce  remained  until  the  following  July,  and 
found  the  year's  stay  very  beneficial  to  his  health. 
At  the  close  of  the  year  he  was  urgently  solicited 
to  remain  at  Bethany  Church.  This  he  would  not 
consent  to  do,  except  on  the  condition  that  Bethany 
Church  would  become  a  regular  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  Issues  growing  out  of  the  Civil 
War  rendered  this  impossible  at  that  time,  so  Dr. 
Joyce  turned  his  face  back  to  his  old  home  in 
Indiana.  Twenty  years  later  Bethany  Church  did 
come  into  our  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  is 
now  one  of  our  regular  Baltimore  appointments. 
It  is  of  interest  that  the  change  was  effected  dur- 
ing the  pastorate  of  John  W.  Jones,  another  In- 
diana man,  who  was  invited  to  Bethany  Church 
through  the  influence  of  Bishop  Joyce. 

When  Dr.  Joyce  returned  to  Indiana  in  the 
fall  of  1877,  it  was  with  the  full  expectation  of 
being  appointed  to  Meridian  Street  Church,  In- 
dianapolis. Bishop  Ames  had  assured  him  that  all 
arrangements  had  been  made.  But  in  some  way 
the  plan  was  frustrated,  and  he  returned  to  his  old 
Conference.  Immediately  he  was  invited  to  the 
pastorate  of  Roberts  Chapel,  the  leading  Church 
of  Greencastle,  and  one  of  the  strongest  in  the 
State.  He  felt  great  hesitancy  about  accepting 
this  invitation,  because  Greencastle  was  the  seat  of 
Asbury  University,  and  he  feared  that  his  scho- 


At  Baltimore  and  Greencastle.  53 

lastic  acquirements  were  not  sufficient  to  meet  the 
demands.  Practically  all  the  Faculty  and  nearly 
all  the  students  attended  that  Church. 

The  bishop  who  presided  at  the  Conference 
assured  him,  however,  that  his  fears  were  ground- 
less, and  he  was  appointed  to  Roberts  Chapel,  now 
College  Avenue,  Greencastle.  This  was  in  Sep- 
tember, 1877.  On  arriving  at  Greencastle,  Dr. 
Joyce  set  to  work  with  his  customary  energy.  He 
soon  became  acquainted  with  his  entire  constitu- 
enc}r,  both  town  and  college. 

He  was  exceedingly  popular  with  the  students. 
No  pastor  that  ever  served  Greencastle,  in  either 
College  Avenue  or  Locust  Street  Church,  has  had 
a  larger  hearing  from  the  student  body  of  old 
Asbury.  His  geniality,  sympathy  with  young  life, 
and  alert  interest  in  everything  that  concerned  the 
students,  in  their  sports  and  studies  as  well  as  in 
their  religious  welfare,  were  responsible  for  this, 
while  his  ability  as  a  preacher  won  their  respect. 
Many  entered  the  ministry  or  missionary  work  as 
the  result  of  his  influence.  Among  the  students 
who  shared  his  pastoral  care  were  three  Japanese, 
who  were  members  of  the  Class  of  1881 — Messrs. 
Kawamura,  Chinda,  and  Sato.  They  were  fre- 
quently entertained  in  his  home,  and  were  members 
of  his  Church.  Mr.  Kawamura  died  before  com- 
pleting his  college  course.     But  Aimaro  Sato  and 


54  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

Suitka  Chinda  graduated,  and  have  since  attained 
to  international  reputation  as  diplomats  in  the 
service  of  their  native  Japan.  Mr.  Chinda  is  am- 
bassador of  Japan  at  the  Austrian  Court;  while 
Mr.  Sato  has  served  at  various  foreign  courts  in  a 
representative  capacity,  and  was  secretary  of  the 
Peace  Commission  of  Japan  which  held  its  sessions 
at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  at  the  close  of 
the  Russian-Japanese  War.  After  becoming 
bishop,  Dr.  Joyce  met  Mr.  Sato  in  Tokio,  and 
had  a  long  talk  with  him  over  old  times.  When 
on  his  episcopal  tour  of  China,  Dr.  Joyce  also  met 
Mr.  Chinda  in  Shanghai,  where  the  latter  was  then 
Japanese  consul,  and  found  that  he  was  a  regular 
attendant  and  member  of  our  Methodist  Church 
there.  Who  knows  how  much  of  the  good  feeling 
of  Japan  toward  America  is  due  to  the  full  insight 
into  the  Christian  home  and  heart  life  of  America, 
as  well  as  into  the  school  and  commercial  life, 
which  such  Japanese  leaders  as  Mr.  Sato  and  Mr. 
Chinda  enjoyed? 

Yet  popular  as  he  was  with  the  students,  he 
was  equally  so  with  the  towns-people.  It  is  doubt- 
ful if  any  preacher  who  served  there  ever  stirred 
the  town  more  profoundly.  One  of  the  vivid  rec- 
ollections of  the  writer's  boyhood  is  of  a  large  class 
being  received  into  full  membership  in  old  Roberts 
Chapel,  among  whom  were  some  of  the  solid  busi- 


At  Baltimore  and  Greencastle.  55 

ness  men  of  the  town,  and  men  who  had  been  hith- 
erto considered  impervious  to  religious  influence. 
So  great  was  the  prosperity  of  the  Church  that 
Dr.  Joyce's  pastorate  has  ever  since  been  a  sort 
of  gauge  by  which  all  other  years  have  been  esti- 
mated. 

It  throws  an  interesting  sidelight  on  Dr. 
Joyce's  decision  of  character  to  learn  that  his  pas- 
torate there  came  near  ending  at  the  close  of  his 
first  year.  Roberts  Chapel  was  an  old  structure. 
The  congregation  during  Dr.  Joyce's  ministry 
overflowed  the  building.  He  very  much  desired 
a  new  church.  With  this  most  of  his  official  men 
were  in  sympathy.  But  there  were  enough  con- 
servatives on  the  Official  Board,  who  also  hap- 
pened to  be  the  men  of  largest  means,  to  lead  to 
an  adverse  decision  on  the  new  church  proposition. 
It  happened  that  at  this  juncture  an  invitation 
reached  him  from  Trinity  Church  at  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky,  our  leading  Methodist  Church  in 
that  thriving  city.  Though  not  quite  clear  as  to 
what  was  best,  it  seemed  on  the  whole  a  provi- 
dential opening,  and  Dr.  Joyce  accepted  it,  sub- 
ject to  the  decision  of  the  bishops  involved  in  the 
transfer.  The  transfer  was  actually  effected,  and, 
as  we  heard  the  bishop  say  to  the  Kentucky  Con- 
ference in  1903,  he  was  "once  a  member  of  the 
Kentucky    Conference    for    twenty-four    hours." 


56  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

But  the  Greencastle  brethren  made  such  a  strong 
protest  against  Dr.  Joyce's  removal,  sending  a 
committee  representing  both  the  Church  and  the 
university  to  Covington,  Kentucky,  where  the  Con- 
ference was  in  session,  and  at  the  same  time  gave 
to  Dr.  Jo}ce  such  ample  assurances  that  a  new 
church  should  be  built  if  he  would  remain,  that 
Bishop  Peck  re-transferred  him  to  the  Northwest 
Indiana  Conference,  and  he  continued  his  work  at 
Greencastle.  Steps  were  immediately  taken  to 
build  a  new  church,  and  the  present  commodious 
and  beautiful  College  Avenue  Church  was  erected. 
Dr.  Hillary  A.  Gobin,  professor  in  DePauw  Uni- 
versity and  for  years  its  president,  characterizes 
Dr.  Joyce's  pastorate  at  Greencastle  as  follows : 

"It  is  well  known  that  our  Churches  in  college 
towns  afford  the  most  difficult  and  important  pas- 
toral charges.  The  unusually  large  proportion  of 
young  people  in  the  congregations,  their  alertness 
of  mind  respecting  the  matter  and  manner  of  pub- 
lic discourse,  the  discussions  in  lecture  rooms  and 
lyceum  halls,  the  keen  scent  for  'heresy'  in  doctrine, 
and  the  tendency  to  'size  up'  the  preacher  as  well 
as  the  professor,  make  the  pastorate  of  college 
audiences  a  serious  situation  for  the  minister  of  the 
Gospel.  But  all  these  conditions  are  advantages 
for  the  superior  man.  This  was  the  case  in  the 
career  of  Isaac  W.  Joyce  in  Greencastle.  At  that 
time  his  congregation  met  in  an  ancient  and  plain 
brick  church  called  Roberts  Chapel.  This  Church 
had  been  served  with  eminent  success  by  some  of 


At  Baltimore  and  Greencastle.  57 

the  ablest  men  in  the  Conference.  But  the  crisp, 
accurate,  original,  and  fervent  sermons  of  Brother 
Joyce  crowded  the  edifice  to  its  utmost  capacity 
with  eager  listeners.  They  did  not  hear  simply  to 
be  entertained.  The  Word  took  root,  and  conver- 
sions were  numerous  and  abiding.  His  three  years' 
pastorate  was  one  continual  revival,  not  in  the  sense 
of  continuous  meetings,  but  in  the  sense  of  increas- 
ing spiritual  power.  The  whole  community,  col- 
lege, town,  and  even  county,  were  awakened  to  in- 
creased interest  in  the  Christian  life.  Students,  in 
letters  and  visits  to  their  homes,  spoke  of  the  power 
and  blessedness  of  the  preaching  of  their  pastor. 
The  number  of  converts  in  this  revival  who  after- 
wards entered  the  ministry  and  missionary  work 
was  very  considerable.  The  bishop  remarked  that 
in  his  Conferences  and  travels  he  was  surprised  at 
the  number  who  came  to  him  and  *ref erred  to  their 
conversion  under  his  pastorate  in  Greencastle. 

"Without  neglecting  the  towns-people,  he  was 
eminently  effective  as  the  pastor  of  the  students. 
A  layman  in  the  Church  remarked,  'The  boys  have 
worn  out  the  hall  carpet  in  running  to  Joyce's 
study  to  consult  him  about  their  speeches.'  There 
were  two  reasons  for  this.  In  the  first  place  the 
students  admired  him  as  an  ideal  public  speaker. 
In  the  second  place  Brother  Joyce  entered  into 
such  hearty  sympathy  with  them  in  all  their  stu- 
dent affairs,  and  particularly  their  intellectual  ef- 
forts, that  they  always  found  him  easily  approach- 
able, the  very  impersonation  of  'brotherly  kind- 
ness,' and  most  judicious  and  helpful  in  his  crit- 
icisms and  suggestions. 


58  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

"Early  in  his  pastorate  it  was  evidenced  that  a 
new  church  building  must  be  provided.  A  new  and 
improved  site  was  selected,  and  a  large  and  splen- 
didly arranged  edifice  was  built.  This  church  has 
been  regarded  as  a  model  in  size,  proportion,  con- 
venience, and  adaptability  to  the  needs  of  the  Col- 
lege Avenue  congregation.  Taking  all  things  into 
account,  the  pastorate  of  Bishop  Joyce  in  Green- 
castle  was  one  of  the  brightest,  most  important, 
and  fruitful  chapters  in  a  career  full  of  honor, 
power,  and  blessedness." 

At  the  Annual  Conference  session  of  1879,  Dr. 
Joj^ce  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1880.  It  is  always  an  honor  to  be  so 
preferred  by  one's  brethren,  and  it  is  especially  so 
when  one  is  chosen  from  the  pastorate.  This  elec- 
tion had  a  very  important  aftermath.  The  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  1880  met  in  Cincinnati.  Dr. 
Joyce  took  an  active  part  in  its  proceedings,  being 
secretary  of  its  Committee  on  Itinerancy.  He 
preached  during  the  Conference  at  one  of  the  Sun- 
day services  at  St.  Paul  Church,  then  one  of  the 
two  leading  Methodist  Churches  of  Cincinnati. 
His  personality  and  sermon  so  impressed  the  con- 
gregation that  a  little  later  he  was  invited  to  be- 
come its  pastor;  and  in  September  following  he 
was  transferred  to  the  Cincinnati  Conference  and 
stationed  at  St.  Paul  Church. 


ST.    PAUL    METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH 
CINCINNATI 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Cincinnati  Pastorates. 

IT  was  in  Cincinnati  that  the  climax  of  Dr. 
Joyce's  pastoral  success  was  achieved.  He 
was  just  entering  his  prime,  lacking  one 
month  of  being  forty-four.  He  went  to  the  lead- 
ing Church  of  the  city,  St.  Paul,  one  which  had 
long  occupied  a  commanding  place  in  Western 
Methodism.  While  it  had  begun  to  feel  the  move- 
ment towards  the  suburbs,  which  has  since  taken 
away  some  of  its  financial  and  numerical  strength, 
it  held  the  position  of  leadership  in  the  sisterhood 
of  Cincinnati  Methodist  Churches. 

On  arriving  in  the  city  early  in  September, 
1880,  Dr.  Joyce  threw  himself  with  enthusiasm 
into  every  department  of  Church  activity.  Always 
forceful  in  the  pulpit  and  often  eloquent,  he 
preached  to  steadily  increasing  audiences.  He  pos- 
sessed an  unusual  measure  of  what  is  called  mag- 
netism, which  when  analyzed  is  found  to  consist 
largely  of  broad  and  strong  sympathies,  or  heart 
power.  He  was  alert,  aggressive,  optimistic,  and 
tireless,  and  the  whole  Church  soon  felt  the  stimu- 

59 


60  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

lus  of  his  leadership.  His  pra3rer-meetings  were 
largely  attended,  and  were  seasons  of  spiritual  re- 
freshing. He  gave  a  great  deal  of  attention  to 
the  Sunday-school,  and  soon  knew  the  scholars  as 
well  as  teachers  and  officers  hy  name.  How  fully 
he  secured  the  confidence  and  co-operation  of  the 
young  people  is  shown  by  the  resolutions  of  the 
Official  Board  at  the  expiration  of  his  pastorate, 
which  make  special  mention  of  his  strong  hold  on 
the  young  life  of  the  Church. 

All  this  was  accomplished  by  hard  pastoral 
work.  Dr.  Joyce  was  not  one  of  those  city  pas- 
tors who  think  their  duty  ended  with  their  Sunday 
discourses.  During  his  first  six  weeks  in  Cincin- 
nati he  called  on  one  hundred  and  thirteen  of  his 
families.  He  visited  faithful^  and  steadily.  Un- 
less there  was  special  reason,  his  calls  were  brief. 
A  few  words  of  inquiry  about  the  children  of  the 
home,  a  word  of  counsel  and  comfort  to  the  mother, 
and  then,  if  opportunity  offered,  a  brief  prayer; 
and  he  was  away  almost  before  the  family  realized 
it.  It  was  by  such  celerity  that  he  could  do  so 
much.  Those  who  think  great  city  pastorates  suc- 
ceed by  force  of  circumstances  are  in  error.  The 
distractions  are  infinite  in  number  and  variety. 
Success  comes  only  as  the  result  of  incessant  toil. 
Dr.  Joyce  found  it  so. 

He  had  a  marvelous  memory  for  both  faces  and 


Cincinnati  Pastorates.  61 


names.  Illustrations  might  be  given  of  his  meeting 
people  for  only  a  moment,  and  under  distracting 
conditions,  yet  of  his  remembering  them  years 
afterwards  and  the  circumstances  under  which  he 
met  them. 

He  knew  every  member  of  his  Church  by  name, 
even  to  the  smallest  children.  After  the  Harrison 
revival  in  Cincinnati,  which  brought  hundreds  into 
St.  Paul  Church,  he  knew  all  the  members,  new 
and  old,  and  their  residences,  their  places  of 
business,  who  of  them  were  in  school,  and  the 
circumstances  of  their  lives.  He  was  a  pastor  in- 
deed. He  was  more  than  once  seen  carrying  bas- 
kets of  food  to  some  needy  family  or  individual. 

When  leaving  the  St.  Paul  Church  pastorate 
he  wrote  out  from  memory  the  entire  Church  rec- 
ord. It  was  found  to  be  absolutely  correct — so 
correct  that  a  few  names  that  had  been  omitted 
from  the  record  by  accident  were  found  on  the  list 
that  came  from  the  memory  and  heart  of  this  faith- 
ful shepherd  of  souls.  This  same  memory  for 
names  and  individual  conditions  of  men  he  retained 
when  a  bishop,  giving  him  a  mastery  of  details 
in  his  cabinet  work,  whenever  that  work  touched 
a  man  whom  he  had  ever  seen. 

Writing  to  an  intimate  friend,  the  Rev.  W. 
McK.  Darwood,  six  weeks  after  he  had  begun  his 
work  in  Cincinnati,  Dr.  Joyce  said: 


Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 


"My  Dear  and  Trusted  Brother: 

"Yours  of  the  15th  inst.  made  me  glad  all  over; 
and  your  wife's  photograph  walked  into  our  sit- 
ting-room yesterday  and  made  us  happier  than 
ever.     Thanks  for  both  letter  and  picture. 

"How  glad  I  am  that  you  have  a  nice  place, 
so  kind  a  people,  and  so  large  an  audience,  with 
inviting  prospects  of  success.  You  know  that  I 
am  as  much  interested  in  your  success  as  I  am  in 
my  own.  I  trust  that  every  hope  will  be  fully 
realized,  and  that  you  will  win  many  souls  to 
Christ.  How  strange  it  seems  that  we  are  so  far 
from  each  other !  I  feel  very  lonely  here  sometimes, 
and  think  of  the  days  of  the  past,  and  in  memory 
re-live  them. 

"The  brethren  here  treat  me  with  utmost  cour- 
tesy. (I  mean  the  ministers.)  M}T  own  Church 
members  are  exceedingly  kind  and  attentive.  I 
have  several  of  the  leading  men  of  the  city  to 
preach  to.  My  audiences  are  steadily  growing. 
The  prayer-meetings  are  very  large  and  spiritual, 
and  I  am  now  confident  that  I  will  pay  off  the 
entire  Church  debt,  thirty  thousand  dollars. 
Everybody  seems  happy  and  hopeful.  It  costs 
more  to  live  here;  but  it  is  better  living,  and  I  am 
satisfied.  You  know  we  have  one  of  the  best  par- 
sonages in  the  whole  Church.  It  is  well  furnished, 
and  we  enjoy  it  greatly.  I  have  received  nine  per- 
sons by  letter,  and  five  on  probation.  I  have  visited 
one  hundred  and  thirteen  of  my  families,  and  have 
been  here  less  than  seven  weeks.  We  are  invited 
out  two,  three,  or  four  times  a  week.  Frank  is  in 
Greencastle.  He  will  be  home  for  Thanksgiving 
dinner. 


Cincinnati  Pastorates.  63 

"How  I  wish  I  could  step  into  your  study  to- 
night, or  you  into  mine,  and  have  a  dear  old-fash- 
ioned talk !    How  it  would  strengthen  and  help  me ! 

"Now  I  hope  to  hear  from  you  often,  and  I 
promise  you  prompt  replies.  Carrie  joins  me  in 
much  love  to  you  and  all  the  family. 

"I  am  the  same  old  friend, 

"Isaac  W.  Joyce." 

From  the  beginning  of  his  work  in  Cincinnati, 
Dr.  Joyce  felt  that  the  supreme  need  was  a  great 
revival  of  religion.  For  this  he  prayed  and  la- 
bored. And  during  his  second  year,  during  the 
meetings  led  by  Thomas  Harrison,  the  evangelist, 
the  great  revival  came.  Every  night  for  four 
months  the  church  was  thronged  with  people.  The 
conversions  reached  fourteen  hundred.  And  St. 
Paul  Church  shared  more  largely  than  any  other 
Church  in  the  results.  According  to  Bishop  Wiley 
there  were  twenty-five  hundred  conversions  in  Cin- 
cinnati and  vicinity  as  a  result  of  this  revival. 
The  influence  of  these  meetings  extended  far  and 
wide.  All  through  the  West  they  were  talked 
about.  The  writer  was  then  a  boy  entering  col- 
lege, but  he  distinctly  recalls  the  interest  they  ex- 
cited both  in  the  college  and  Church,  although 
over  two  hundred  miles  away.  Perhaps  the  largest 
effect  of  this  revival  was  the  way  in  which  it 
kindled  the  imagination  and  aroused  the  faith  of 
ministers  and  laity  all  over  the  West.     It  is  not  to 


64  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

be  doubted  that  at  least  a  hundred  revivals  sprung 
up  as  the  result  of  this  one;  somewhat  as  in  1858 
revivals  broke  out  all  over  the  country  as  the  result 
of  the  spreading  of  the  story  of  the  Fulton  Street 
(New  York)  prayer-meeting  revival.  The  result 
of  these  labors  at  St.  Paul  Church  was  a  greatly 
enlarged  Church  membership.  The  number  of  ac- 
cessions according  to  the  Official  Board's  statement 
being  "unprecedented  in  the  history  of  Cincinnati 
Methodism."  The  finances  of  the  Church  went 
upward  with  a  bound,  answering,  as  always,  to  the 
spiritual  life  of  the  people.  Even  though  St. 
Paul  Church  was  beginning  to  feel  the  drain  to 
the  suburbs,  which  has  since  so  seriously  affected 
all  of  our  down-town  Churches,  yet  such  was  the 
organizing  generalship  of  Dr.  Joyce,  and  so  genu- 
ine and  satisfying  the  tide  of  spiritual  life  gener- 
ated during  his  pastorate,  as  that  the  Church  was 
alive  and  thrilling  to  its  very  finger-tips  with  social 
and  religious  enthusiasm  and  activity.  At  the  close 
of  his  pastorate  the  officiary  of  the  Church  adopted 
the  following  resolutions : 

"Cincinnati,  July  8,  1883. 
"At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Official  Board  of 
St.  Paul  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Brother 
William  Glenn  was  called  to  the  chair  and  John  P. 
Epply  was  elected  secretary.  A  motion  was  then 
made  and  carried  that  a  committee  of  five  be  ap- 
pointed to  draft  resolutions  expressive  of  the  feel- 


Cincinnati  Pastorates.  65 

ings  of  the  Church  and  Official  Board  as  to  the 
ministry  of  Dr.  Joyce  in  our  Church. 

"At  a  meeting  held  your  committee  are  united 
in  saying  that  it  was  in  their  opinion  a  wise  and 
happy  selection  when  Dr.  Joyce,  with  his  faithful 
Christian  wife,  was  placed  in  charge  of  St.  Paul 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Through  their  la- 
bors the  conversions  and  accessions  to  St.  Paul 
have  been  unprecedented  in  the  history  of  Meth- 
odism in  Cincinnati.  Their  united  labors  and  vis- 
itations among  the  people,  and  their  labors  in  the 
Sabbath-school  and  social  services  of  the  Church, 
have  been  greatly  blessed  under  God  in  bringing 
young  people  into  the  Church.  And  not  only  so, 
but  their  efforts  to  instruct  the  young  in  the  doc- 
trines of  Christ  have  been  largely  rewarded  by  giv- 
ing to  the  Church  many  intelligent  workers  in  the 
Church  and  Sabbath-school.  When  Dr.  Joyce 
came  to  St.  Paul  the  Church  had  a  bonded  and 
floating  debt  of  over  thirty  thousand  dollars,  all 
of  which  has  been  provided  for  during  his  ministry 
among  us.  And  a  very  large  share  of  the  credit 
is  due  to  him  in  raising  this  heavy  burden  from  the 
Church.  He  in  the  economy  of  the  Church  will 
soon  close  his  labors  with  us.  He  will  leave  us  with 
the  Church  clear  of  debt,  with  a  very  large  in- 
crease of  intelligent  Christian  workers  as  trophies 
of  his  ministry  among  us,  both  in  and  out  of  the 
pulpit. 

"We  commend  him  with  all  our  hearts  to  the 
people  of  a  sister  charge  in  this  city,  bespeaking 
for  him  a  hearty  welcome  and  cordial  support. 

"Our  hearts  will  go  with  him  to  his  new  charge 
5 


66  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

in  an  earnest  God-speed.  And  we  shall  not  cease 
to  pray  that  he  may  be  as  great  a  blessing  to  the 
people  of  his  new  charge  as  he  has  been  to  us." 

At  the  close  of  his  pastorate  at  St.  Paul,  the 
three  years'  limit  being  then  in  force,  Dr.  Joyce 
was  appointed  to  Trinity  Church,  six  blocks  away. 
It  was  at  that  time  second  in  strength  to  the  St. 
Paul  congregation.  He  was  appointed  at  the 
request  of  the  Trinity  Official  Board. 

Here  his  work  went  forward  after  the  same  vig- 
orous fashion  as  at  St.  Paul.  The  Western 
Christian  Advocate  of  the  last  of  October,  1883, 
six  or  eight  weeks  after  his  taking  charge  at  Trin- 
ity, said: 

"The  advices  from  Trinity  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  at  Cincinnati,  are  of  a  most  en- 
couraging nature.  Under  the  pastorate  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Joyce,  late  of  St.  Paul  Church,  the  congrega- 

I  tions  have  doubled  in  size  and  are  growing  steadily. 

1  Trinity  was  in  former  years  one  of  the  strongest 
charges  in  Ohio,  and  with  her  central  position,  a 
fine  property  free  from  debt,  a  united  and  active 
membership,  and  good  leadership,  there  is  no  reason 
why  she  should  not  regain  her  best  position  of  other 
years,  and  more.  The  reports  of  the  late  Quar- 
terly Conference  showed  every  branch  of  the 
Church  actively  at  work,  with  promising  results 
already  visible.  The  congregations  are  the  largest 
since  1873." 


Cincinnati  Pastorates.  67 

While  Dr.  Joyce  was  pastor  at  Trinity  Church 
the  terrible  court-house  riot  occurred,  one  of  the 
worst  in  this  country,  in  which  scores  of  men 
were  killed  and  injured.  The  rioters  had  pos- 
session of  the  city  for  several  days.  It  was  a  time 
of  great  anxiety  for  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Joyce,  because 
their  son,  Frank,  was  captain  of  the  Second  Ohio 
Battery,  which  took  a  prominent  part  in  suppress- 
ing the  riot.  Frank  had  graduated  two  year>  ; 
fore  from  DePauw  University,  where  he  had  been 
at  the  head  of  the  students'  military  battalion.  He 
had  also  been  at  the  head  of  the  crack  artillery 
company  of  the  university,  and  had  been  its  cap- 
tain when  it  won  first  honors  in  the  national  mili- 
tary drills  over  all  others  of  the  United  States, 
not  including,  of  course,  those  in  the  regular  army. 
Writing  to  a  friend  of  this  riot,  Dr.  J03XC  said: 

"I  sent  you  the  papers  describing  our  terrible 
riot.  We  suffered  greatly  in  mental  anxiety  on 
Frank's  account.  He  was  in  that  awful  fight  of 
Saturday  night  of  March  29th.  He  is  captain  of 
the  Second  Ohio  Battery,  and  lie  and  his  men  were 
under  fire  constantly  during  the  time  that  the  riot- 
ers were  putting  forth  their  strongest  efforts  to 
murder  the  soldiers.  We  did  not  sleep  for  three 
days  and  nights,  so  great  was  our  anxiety.  But 
God  brought  him  and  his  men  out  of  the  fight 
without  a  single  hurt.  And  we  are  thankful  and 
profoundly  happy." 


68  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

During  Dr.  JVyce's  pastorate  at  Trinity 
Church  he  became  greatly  burdened  about  the  con- 
dition of  the  city.  He  felt  that  nothing  but  a 
great  religious  awakening  could  create  the  new 
civic  conscience  which  the  community  so  sorely 
needed,  and  could  turn  the  attention  of  careless, 
unawakened  men  to  the  needs  of  their  souls. 

He  went  to  the  Preachers'  Meeting  and  told 
them  how  he  felt;  and  sought  their  co-operation 
in  securing  an  evangelist  then  unknown  in  the 
North,  but  widely  and  favorably  known  in  the 
South — the  Rev.  Sam  P.  Jones.  The  brethren  did 
not  see  their  way  to  co-operate.  Bishop  Walden, 
however,  whom  Dr.  Joyce  trusted  and  loved  pro- 
foundly, encouraged  him  to  secure  him.  So  Dr. 
Joyce  engaged  Sam  Jones  himself,  rented  Music 
Hall,  the  largest  building  in  the  city,  and  assumed 
all  the  financial  responsibility.  Within  a  week 
after  the  meetings  opened  the  whole  city  was  inter- 
ested, and  many  pastors  of  various  denominations, 
who  had  at  first  withheld  their  support,  joined 
heartily  in  carrying  forward  the  work.  Hundreds 
were  converted,  and  the  city  was  aroused  to  a  new 
civic  righteousness.  A  great  religious  revival  took 
place.  While  there  were  not  a  few  critics  of  the 
peculiar  personality  and  utterances  of  the  evan- 
gelist, practically  the  whole  city  honored  the  pastor 
of  such  heroic  faith  and  courage  as  to  lead  a  move- 


Cincinnati  Pastorates.  69 

ment  which  affected  in  its  sweep  not  only  a  great 
municipality,  but  other  communities  for  hundreds 
of  miles  around. 

The  Western  Christian  Advocate  said  edito- 
rially : 

"The  recent  revival  of  this  city  has  attracted 
attention  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  in- 
terest awakened  by  Reverends  Jones  and  Small,  the 
Georgia  evangelists,  was  the  most  remarkable  in 
years,  as  evidenced  by  the  vast  crowd  that  con- 
stantly attended  the  meetings.  A  great  revival 
like  a  great  campaign  must  be  controlled  and  di- 
rected by  a  master  mind,  and  the  success  of  the 
Cincinnati  revival  is  due  to  the  Rev.  Isaac  W. 
Joyce,  of  Trinity  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
upon  whose  invitation  the  evangelists  came  here. 
Dr.  Joyce  is  responsible  for  the  two  greatest  re- 
vivals that  have  occurred  in  this  city  in  the  past 
thirty  years — the  one  just  closed,  and  the  other 
known  as  the  Harrison  meeting,  a  few  years  ago, 
will  long  be  remembered." 

Dr.  Joyce  had  an  influence  in  Cincinnati  much 
beyond  the  bounds  of  his  pastoral  charges.  He 
impressed  himself  on  the  general  public.  He  took 
the  liveliest  interest  in  subjects  affecting  the  public 
welfare.  He  had  correspondence  with  working- 
men  and  working  girls  about  conditions  of  labor  in 
the  city.  These  letters  he  made  the  basis  of  ser- 
mons in  which  he  pointed  out  vigorously  the  in- 


TO  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

dustrial  sins  of  employers.  Although  pastor  of 
many  wealthy  Methodists,  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
expose  the  failures  and  neglects  of  the  well-to-do. 
A  man  of  strong  sympathies,  such  as  Bishop  Joyce 
was,  would  feel  bound  to  utter  his  protest  against 
anything  like  oppression  of  the  weak  by  the  strong. 

Always  Dr.  Jo}>ce  was  the  warm  friend  of  the 
old  soldiers.  He  frequently  spoke  before  them. 
As  a  Decoration  Day  orator  or  Memorial  Sunday 
preacher  he  was  unexcelled.  This  brought  him 
into  contact  with  a  large  number  outside  of  his 
own  Church  circles  and  made  him  a  well-known 
man  in  Cincinnati.  It  also  gave  him  a  larger  ac- 
quaintance with  the  newspaper  men.  And  their 
good-will  is  an  important  factor  in  the  success  of 
a  minister  in  the  city. 

But  it  was  in  the  management  of  the  great 
revivals  that  Dr.  Joyce  impressed  himself  most 
strongly  upon  the  city  as  a  whole,  and  upon  the 
Methodism  of  that  part  of  the  country.  While 
at  first  in  both  the  great  revivals  he  was  almost 
alone  in  the  responsibility  of  these  movements,  yet 
each  time  the  revivals  grew  to  such  proportions 
as  to  sweep  in  the  other  Churches  and  to  awaken 
the  interest  and  largely  the  co-operation  of  the 
entire  Protestant  religious  public.  It  was  these 
movements — the  arranging  of  their  details,  the 
financing  of  them,  the  keeping  them  off  the  rocks, 
that  displayed  generalship.      Perhaps  it  was  this 


Cincinnati  Pastorates.  71 

that  more  than  anything  else  marked  him  as  a 
really  great  executive  and  administrator,  and  di- 
rected the  attention  of  the  Church  towards  him  as 
a  suitable  man  for  its  greatest  administrative 
office — the  bishopric. 

The  strength  of  Dr.  Joyce's  hold  on  the  city 
was  shown  in  nothing  more  clearly  than  by  the 
fact  that  at  the  close  of  his  pastorate  of  three 
years  at  Trinity,  he  was  again  invited  to  become 
pastor  at  St.  Paul.  In  our  judgment  this  was 
a  greater  compliment  than  if  he  had  been  invited 
to  serve  a  seventh  consecutive  year  at  St.  Paul. 
For  these  two  Churches  were  but  a  few  blocks 
apart,  their  territory  practically  the  same,  and  the 
opportunities  for  friction  must  have  been  number- 
less. For  a  pastor  to  conduct  himself  with  such 
wisdom,  and  at  the  same  time  with  such  successful 
aggressiveness,  as  that  he  was  invited  back  to  a 
third  consecutive  pastorate  in  the  same  territory, 
showed  great  practical  wisdom  in  dealing  with  men. 
And  it  showed  also  that  in  the  judgment  of  the 
princely  laymen  who  composed  the  leadership  of 
St.  Paul  Church  the  resources  of  Dr.  Joyce  had 
by  no  means  been  exhausted.  During  Dr.  Joyce's 
years  in  the  episcopal  office  some  ministers  criti- 
cised  his  intellectual  qualifications,  who,  in  their 
own  pastorates,  never  came  within  gunshot  of 
this  magnificent  achievement  of  Dr.  Joyce  in  Cin- 


72  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

y  i  i  ■ 

cinnati.  We  speak  of  this  here  because  of  the  dis- 
position in  some  quarters  to  measure  preachers  by 
purely  academic  and  artificial  standards,  instead  of 
by  the  influence  and  work  actually  achieved.  A 
man  is  as  great  as  the  sum  of  his  achievements. 
Yet  men  whose  Churches  die  on  their  hands  will 
send  the  dagger  of  unbrotherly  and  unchristian 
criticism  into  ministers  who  lead  forlorn  hopes  to 
magnificent  success,  because  those  ministers  do  not 
happen  to  fulfill  certain  doctrinaire  conceptions  of 
sermonizing. 

It  was  this  kind  of  criticism  that  caused  Dr. 
Joyce  the  keenest  suffering  of  anything  in  his 
entire  ministry,  if  we  may  judge  from  his  letters. 
He  was  an  exquisitely  sensitive  soul.  The  great- 
ness of  his  power  to  love  was  the  measure  of  his 
power  to  suffer.  There  were  times  when  for  weeks 
together  he  suffered  so  keenly  under  hostile  criti- 
cism, and  strangely  enough  from  hostile  ministerial 
criticism,  as  that  he  was  tempted  to  resign  his 
charge  and  leave  the  city.  Writing  to  his  friend, 
the  Rev.  William  McK.  Darwood,  of  New  York 
City,  he  says: 

"My  mental  suffering  was  great,  I  assure  you, 

and  my  spiritual  nature  was  in  an  agony  a  great 

part  of  the  time.     I  lived  in  torture  for  days.     But 

i  I  had  two  never-failing  friends  in  all  this  fearful 

•j  ordeal — my  faithful  wife,  and  the  blessed  God  and 

I  Father  of  my  salvation.     Finally  the  sun  began  to 


Cincinnati  Pastorates.  73 

shine,  I  felt  better.  I  left  all  with  Him  who  is  the 
Head  of  the  Church.  I  gathered  up  my  energies, 
concentrated  my  forces  again,  and  went  to  work. 
God  is  wonderfully  blessing  my  work.  And  while 
my  bruised  feelings  pain  me  now  and  then,  yet  I  . 
am  clinging  to  God  with  an  unyielding  grasp.  I 
love  Him  supremely." 

Perhaps  Dr.  Joyce  took  to  heart  too  deeply 
the  criticisms  that  were  directed  against  him.  The 
tender  mercies  of  politicians  are  never  gentle, 
whether  those  politicians  be  ecclesiastical  or  secu- 
lar. When  a  man  gets  tall  enough  to  be  seen 
above  the  heads  of  the  crowd  he  becomes  a  target 
for  the  shafts  of  rivals,  not  to  say  of  the  envious. 

But  notwithstanding  some  unfriendly  criti- 
cism, Dr.  Joyce  grew  steadily  in  the  favor  of 
the  city  and  of  the  Churches.  Pie  was  elected 
president  of  the  Interdenominational  Ministerial 
Union,  and  also  was  one  of  the  prominent  officers 
of  the  Law  and  Order  League. 

His  influence  extended  out  into  the  surround- 
ing States.  He  was  called  all  over  the  Central 
West  for  special  service  for  the  Church.  And  it 
became  evident  that  he  was  the  most  powerful 
factor   in   the   life    of    Methodism    in    Cincinnati. 

In  the  fall  of  1887  Dr.  Joyce  was  elected  a 
delegate  to  the  General  Conference,  which  was  to 
meet  the  ensuing  May  in  New  York  City.  His 
election  was  an  especially  high  honor  in  view  of 


74  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

the  small  delegation  which  the  Cincinnati  Confer- 
ence could  send — four,  while  there  were  so  many 
men  of  pronounced  ability  in  its  membership.  And 
also  it  was  a  high  compliment  because  of  his  being 
a  transfer  into  the  Conference. 

Writing  to  his  friend,  Dr.  Darwood,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1888,  Dr.  Joyce  said: 

"My  time  will  be  out  here  in  the  fall  of  1889. 
But  I  have  an  idea  that  the  General  Conference 
will  add  another  year  to  the  pastoral  term,  making 
four  years  instead  of  three;  and  if  that  should  be 
done,  then  I  will  stay  here  until  1890.  I  am  glad 
to  report  to  you  that  my  work  goes  well.  I  have 
been  like  a  race  horse  on  the  track,  and  from  Mon- 
day morning  until  Sunday  night  I  am  on  the  rush. 
I  am  in  the  midst  of  a  meeting,  and  you  know  what 
kind  of  work  a  protracted  meeting  means. 

"There  is  one  thing  that  I  would  be  especially 
glad  to  see;  viz.,  that  beginning  at  the  close  of 
General  Conference,  the  great  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  would  enter  upon  the  next  quadrennium 
with  only  one  purpose  inspiring  all  her  move- 
ments— in  every  department  of  her  organization — 
that  is,  to  see  how  many  souls  this  great  Church 
could  lead  to  Christ  in  the  next  four  years.  It 
seems  to  me  that  with  our  great  army  of  ministers, 
and  our  nearly  two  million  of  members,  we  ought 
to  do  grand  work  for  God  and  humanity." 

Dr.  Joyce's  expectation  about  returning  to 
Cincinnati  was  not  fulfilled  for  reasons  that  become 
apparent  in  our  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Elected  Bishop. 

IT  would  be  inaccurate  to  say  that  when  the 
Board  of  Bishops  nominates  a  minister  to 
serve  as  fraternal  delegate  to  one  of  the 
great  sister  denominations  of  Christendom,  they 
place  that  minister  in  nomination  for  the  office  of 
bishop.  Doubtless  no  such  consideration  ever  in- 
fluenced the  action  of  the  Episcopal  Board.  Yet 
such  a  nomination  carries  with  it  in  so  marked  a 
degree  the  stamp  of  approval  of  that  board — and 
it  is  the  most  powerful  group  of  men  in  the 
Church — as  that  its  effect  is  scarcely  less  than  if 
the  purpose  to  place  a  man  in  nomination  for  the 
episcopacy  were  present. 

In  1886  Dr.  Joyce  was  appointed  fraternal 
delegate  to  the  Methodist  Church  of  Canada, 
which  met  in  Metropolitan  Methodist  Church,  To- 
ronto, in  September.  He  was  now  in  the  prime 
of  his  powers — just  fifty.  The  Montreal  Globe 
gave  the  following  description  of  his  reception  by 
the  Canadian  brethren: 

"The   secretary   then    read   the   credentials   of 
Rev.    Dr.    Joyce,    of   the   Cincinnati    Conference, 
75 


76  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

after  which  the  Chairman  introduced  that  gentle- 
man to  the  Conference.  Dr.  Joyce  has  a  fine 
physique  and  a  most  intellectual  face,  while  his 
manner  of  speaking  is  slow  and  deliberate.  He 
asked  the  audience  to  try  and  picture  the  astonish- 
ment of  John  Wesley,  if  that  great  father  of 
Methodism  could  look  in  upon  them  that  evening, 
and  see  as  the  fruits  of  his  efforts  representatives 
of  grand  and  growing  Methodist  Churches  gath- 
ered from  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  speaker 
then  dwelt  upon  the  great  work  that  might  be 
done  by  Methodists  in  the  United  States.  The 
great  problems  that  were  vexing  them  there  every 
year  more  and  more,  were  lawlessness,  infidelity, 
intemperance,  and  Mormonism. 

"As  to  Mormonism,  the  Christian  people  of 
the  United  States  and  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  were  determined  that  it  should  be 
stamped  out.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
was  one  of  the  great  weapons  with  which  they  were 
to  contest  and  overcome  these  evils.  The  Church 
was  united  there  and  spoke  with  one  voice.  Other 
great  weapons  of  warfare  were  the  Sunda3^-school 
and  the  press  of  the  Church. 

"Touching  on  the  educational  question,  he  said 
they  had  in  the  United  States  some  years  ago  con- 
siderable trouble  over  the  question  of  colleges. 
Every  little  town  wanted  a  college  or  a  univer- 
sity or  a  high  school  or  a  seminary  or  something 
of  the  kind,  and  in  a  good  many  cases  the  small 
towns  secured  the  colleges.  But  they  had  found 
out  their  mistake  and  had  merged  the  smaller  col- 
leges into  the  larger  ones,  and  now  had  great  col- 


Elected  Bishop.  77 


leges  and  universities  only  at  the  most  central  and 
most  useful  points  in  the  country.      (Applause.) 

"The  speaker  then  told  of  the  strength  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States, 
and  said  he  hoped  and  believed  that  before  long 
the  Methodist  bodies  of  the  United  States  would 
unite  and  form  one  great  Church  as  they  had  done 
in  Canada.  (Applause.)  He  referred  most  en- 
couragingly to  the  missionary  work  of  the  Church 
in  his  country,  and  brought  thunders  of  applause 
by  touching  on  Bishop  Taylor's  grand  work  in 
Africa,  and  referring  to  the  great  missionary  as 
the  greatest  hero  since  St.  Paul  and  Martin  Luther. 
The  address  was  listened  to  with  the  deepest  atten- 
tion, and  frequently  broken  by  applause. 

"Dr.  Sutherland  moved  a  congratulatory  reso- 
lution to  the  speaker,  which  was  carried  with  ac- 
clamation." 

In  May,  1888,  Dr.  Joyce  journeyed  to  New 
York  City,  together  with  the  other  Cincinnati  Con- 
ference delegates,  Charles  H.  Payne,  Adna  B. 
Leonard,  and  Jeremiah  H.  Bayliss.  Dr.  Joyce 
was  the  last  of  the  group  elected  by  his  Conference. 
But  it  was  doubly  complimentary  to  him  that  he 
should  have  been  elected  at  all  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  he  was  a  "transfer,"  having  been  a  member 
of  the  Conference  but  seven  years  at  the  time  of 
his  election.  Four  years  before,  in  1884,  he  had 
been  chosen  a  reserve  delegate. 

Dr.  Joyce  served  as  a  member  of  the  Committee 


78  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

on  Itinerancy  in  the  General  Conference,  and  was 
the  committee's  secretary. 

Two  important  duties  devolved  upon  him  at 
this  Conference.  One  was  the  making  of  a  report 
to  it  of  his  official  visit  to  the  Methodist  Church 
of  Canada.  The  other  was  his  memorial  of  Bishop 
Wiley.  Perhaps  this  last  event  brought  him  more 
prominently  before  the  Conference  than  any  other 
act.  His  address  on  Bishop  Wiley  was  a  model 
of  good  taste  and  sympathetic  delineation. 

Dr.  Joyce  and  Bishop  Wiley  had  been  the 
closest  of  friends.  On  his  arrival  in  Cincinnati  as 
pastor  of  St.  Paul  Church  Dr.  Joyce  had  been 
received  to  the  heart  of  Bishop  Wiley.  The  inti- 
macy begun  then  lasted  until  Bishop  Wiley's  death 
in  China  in  1884.  Bishop  Wiley's  family  were 
members  of  Dr.  Joyce's  Church  in  Cincinnati. 
When  in  the  city  the  bishop  himself  was  in  the 
congregation,  one  of  Dr.  Joyce's  most  sympathetic 
hearers.  Bishop  Wiley's  daughter,  Nellie,  was  con- 
verted under  Dr.  Joyce's  ministry  at  St.  Paul 
Church.  And  it  was  Dr.  Joyce  who  broke  to 
Bishop  Wiley  the  sad  news  of  the  death  of  the 
bishop's  only  son,  by  burning  in  a  great  fire  in 
a  drugstore,  when  the  latter  was  a  Senior  at  the 
Ohio  Wesley  an. 

The  General  Conference  of  1888  decided  to 
elect  five  bishops.     The  office  is  a  more  important 


Elected  Bishop.  79 


one   in   the   Methodist  Episcopal  Church   than   in 
any  other  Church  employing  the  Episcopal  form 
of  supervision.     The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
has  one  hundred  and  two  bishops  in  the  United 
States,  who  supervise  three  quarters  of  a  million 
members.    The  Roman  Catholic  Church  lias  one  hun- 
dred and  six  archbishops  and  bishops  ,who  super- 
vise eleven  million  communicants.     The  Methodist 
Episcopal    Church    has    (at    the    time    we    write) 
fifteen  bishops,  only  twelve  of  whom  are  assigned 
to  the  Conferences  in  the  United   States.      These 
supervise  sixteen  thousand  churches  and  three  mil- 
lion members.      The  bishops  appoint  the  pastors 
to  the  Churches,  every  appointment  being  reviewed 
and  fixed  each  year.     In  addition  to  this  most  re- 
sponsible  duty   the   bishops    are   members   of   the 
several   great   benevolence   boards   of   the    Church 
which   administer   millions   of   money   every   year. 
They   determine  the   course   of   study    of   all   the 
preachers  who  enter  the  ministry,  and  a  course  of 
study  for  an  army  of  local  preachers.     They  su- 
pervise the  theological  seminaries  of  the  Church, 
having  veto  power  over  the  selection  of  their  teach- 
ers.    They  scrutinize  every  part  of  the  work  of 
the  Church  and  make  recommendations  concerning 
it  to  the  General  Conference.     They  elect  the  fra- 
ternal representatives  to  the  various  sister  denomi- 
nations of  Christians.    And  in  addition  to  all  these 


80  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 


functions,  by  virtue  of  the  life  tenure  of  their 
office  and  the  extremely  wide  acquaintance  they 
enjoy,  they  are  able  to  exercise  a  personal  influ- 
ence which  is  no  less  than  extraordinary. 

Hence  it  is  that  the  Episcopacy  is  looked  upon 
within  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  as  being 
the  highest  position  in  point  of  honor,  and  the 
highest  in  its  opportunities  for  usefulness,  of  all 
the  positions  in  the  gift  of  the  Church.  And 
friends  of  preachers  can  think  of  no  better  wish 
than  that  they  shall  be  elected  to  the  Episcopacy. 
The  old  Methodist  mother  of  William  McKinley 
when  asked  if  she  were  not  delighted  over  her  son's 
election  as  President  of  the  United  States,  replied: 
"Yes,  but  I  would  rather  have  seen  him  a  Methodist 
bishop." 

No  doubt  there  will  be  found  those  who  would 
dissent  from  the  foregoing  observations  and  ad- 
duce some  vigorous  reasons  for  another  view.  And 
three  men  have  declined  elections  to  that  office. 
Nevertheless  the  views  just  expressed  state  the 
general  feeling  about  the  office  among  the  people 
called  Methodists. 

On  May  22d  the  balloting  began.  On  the  first 
ballot  eighty-four  persons  were  voted  for.  Dr. 
Joyce  stood  fifth  in  the  total  vote  received,  having 
145  votes  out  of  a  total  of  -±47.  On  the  second 
ballot  he  received  217  votes,  and  came  fourth  in 


Elected  Bishop.  81 

the  total  number  received.  On  the  third  ballot 
he  received  260  votes,  and  came  up  to  third  place. 
On  this  ballot  Dr.  J.  H.  Vincent  and  Dr.  J.  N. 
FitzGerald  were  elected.  On  the  fourth  ballot 
Dr.  Joyce  led  with  265  votes;  and  on  the  fifth 
ballot  he  was  elected  with  326  votes  out  of  a 
total  of  449.  His  was  the  largest  vote  received  by 
any  bishop  elected. 

It  is  of  interest  to  recall  that  three  of  the  four 
delegates  of  the  Cincinnati  Conference  received 
votes  for  bishop,  and  all  were  chosen  to  General 
Conference  positions,  a  fact  probably  unduplicated 
in  any  General  Conference  election  in  the  history 
of  the  Church.  Dr.  Bayliss,  editor  of  the  Western 
Christian  Advocate,  received  15  votes  for  bishop; 
and  Dr.  Charles  H.  Payne,  President  of  the  Ohio 
Wesleyan  University,  received  148.  In  addition 
to  this,  Dr.  Cranston,  who  was  living  at  Cincin- 
nati, though  a  member  of  another  Conference,  re- 
ceived 144  votes. 

The  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati  Commer- 
cial-Gazette at  New  York  said: 

"The  election  of  Dr.  Joyce  was  a  good  deal 
of  a  surprise  to  many  in  this  region  (New  York). 
It  was  a  magnificent  triumph  that  grows  on  those 
who  study  it.  .  .  .  He  was  comparative^  unknown 
throughout  the  East,  and  consequently  had  not 
much  hold  here.  His  friends,  however,  both  within 
the  Conference  and  outside  of  it,  were  not  a  few, 
6 


82  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

and  through  them  his  superior  qualities  were 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  delegates.  His 
paper  on  Bishop  Wiley,  his  presence,  his  manner, 
and  his  spirit,  so  won  upon  the  Conference  that 
upon  the  fifth  ballot,  as  the  third  man  chosen,  he 
went  in  with  such  a  vote  as  was  never  in  any  other 
instance  given  to  any  man  in  his  election  to  the 
Episcopacy  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
His  triumph  is  complete.  He  is  believed  to  be  a 
clean,  strong  man,  full  of  manly  sympathies  and 
parts,  and  a  born  leader  among  men,  while  modest 
and  affable  in  an  unusual  degree." 

Of  Bishop  Joyce's  election,  Dr.  James  M. 
Buckley,   in   his    "History   of   Methodism,"    says: 

"His  marked  efficiency  as  a  pastor  ?„nd  evangel- 
ist, his  prudence  and  fervency,  commended  him  to 
the  large  number  who  justly  believed  that  the  pas- 
torate should  always  be  represented  upon  the  Board 
of  Bishops." 

Of  the  ten  men  leading  in  the  votes  for  bishop 
in  the  General  Conference  of  1888,  only  three  were 
from  the  pastorate.  The  others  were  in  secretarial 
or  educational  work.  Dr.  Buckley  said  of  Bishop 
Joyce's  election  after  the  latter's  death: 

"These  things  gave  his  candidacy  the  benefit 
of  a  spontaneous  impetus.  He  was  a  pastor.  Al- 
ready two  general  officials  had  been  elected.  He 
had  always  been  a  pastor,  excepting  a  brief  term 
as  presiding  elder,  which  office  in  reality  does  not 


Elected  Bishop.  83 


divorce  a  man  from  the  pastorate,  since  he  has 
a  constant  intercourse  with  the  ministry,  the 
Churches,  and  the  laity.  He  was  not  only  a  pas- 
tor, but  one  highly  emotional,  a  lover  and  a  pro- 
moter of  genuine  revivals.  He  was  not  conspicu- 
ously identified  with  the  burning  issue  at  that  time 
— the  admission  of  women  into  the  General  Con- 
ference— although  when  his  name  was  called  he 
voted  not  to  admit  the  delegates,  but  to  submit  the 
question  of  constitutionality  to  the  Church.  His 
bearing  on  the  Committee  on  Itinerancy  made  him 
many  friends.  There  and  elsewhere,  whenever  any 
one  named  for  the  Episcopacy  was  mentioned  in 
his  presence,  or  his  opinion  of  any  one  nominated 
was  asked,  in  every  case  he  mentioned  the  quali- 
fications of  such  persons  without  one  disparaging 
word  or  look.  The  sum  of  his  career  abundantly 
justifies  his  election." 

After  the  election  it  developed  that  some  dele- 
gates had  adopted  a  unique  method  of  arriving  at 
one  qualification  for  the  Episcopacy  of  men  whose 
election  was  being  advocated.  They  called  on 
Dr.  Joyce  and  asked  his  opinion  of  one  or  two 
men  who  were  being  prominently  mentioned.  Dr. 
Joyce  spoke  highly  of  them.  The  delegates  then 
went  to  the  other  men  and  asked  them  their  opinion 
of  Dr.  Joyce  as  an  Episcopal  possibility.  These 
brethren  spoke  disparagingly  of  the  Doctor,  de- 
claring it  would  never  do  to  elect  him.  The  out- 
come was  that  these   men   lost  the  votes   of  this 


84  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

group  of  delegates,  while  they  were  all  given  to 
Dr.  Joyce. 

The  Independent,  one  of  the  leading  religious 
journals  of  America,  speaking  of  the  election  of 
bishops  from  a  non-Methodist  standpoint,  said : 

"In  the  election  of  Bishops  Vincent,  Fitz- 
Gerald,  Joyce,  and  Goodsell  the  Conference  struck 
a  high  plane  of  ability  and  character.  Bishop 
Vincent  excels  as  preacher,  educator,  organizer; 
Bishop  FitzGerald  in  administrative  and  judicial 
ability ;  Bishop  Joyce  in  balance  of  powers ;  Bishop 
Goodsell  in  strength  and  grace  of  mind  and  char- 
acter." 

The  election  of  Dr.  Joyce  to  the  Episcopacy 
was  favorably  received  by  the  Church  at  large. 
It  provoked  the  greatest  enthusiasm  in  Cincinnati, 
Greencastle,  and  Lafayette,  where  he  had  held  long 
pastorates. 

A  movement  was  immediately  set  on  foot  by 
Cincinnati  Methodists  to  secure  his  residence  in 
Cincinnati,  which  had  long  been  one  of  the  cities 
designated  by  the  General  Conference  as  an  Epis- 
copal residence.  As  this  was  not  in  harmony  with 
the  method  then  in  vogue,  which  gave  the  bishops 
their  choice  of  residence  in  the  order  of  their 
seniority  of  election,  the  plan  to  bring  Bishop 
Joyce  to  Cincinnati  was  not  carried  out.  He  was 
assigned  to  Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  instead.     The 


Elected  Bishop.  85 


following  is  the  report  of  the  efforts  of  the  friends 
of  Bishop  Joyce  to  secure  his  residence  in  Cincin- 
nati, as  set  forth  in  one  of  the  papers  there: 

"The  following  memorial  to  the  Board  of 
Bishops,  asking  that  Cincinnati  be  made  the  Epis- 
copal residence  of  Bishop  I.  W.  Joyce,  has  been 
signed  by  several  hundred  prominent  laymen  of 
the  Methodist  Churches  of  this  city  and  duly  for- 
warded : 

"  'To  the  Board  of  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church: 

"  'Reverend  and  Beloved  Fathers, — During 
the  period  of  his  pastorship  in  this  city — consisting 
of  nearly  eight  years — Rev.  Isaac  W.  Joyce,  D.  D., 
has  shown  an  executive  capacity  and  magnetic 
force  which  enabled  him  to  awaken  widespread  re- 
ligious interest  in  the  community,  and  conduct  in 
worship  crowded  assemblies ;  to  secure  increased 
congregations  and  membership  in  the  Churches  to 
which  he  was  appointed;  to  interest  men,  women, 
and  children  in  personal  religion  and  train  them 
for  Church  work ;  to  supervise  and  direct  wisely 
the  secular  affairs  of  his  charges,  and  to  stimulate 
his  people  to  greater  liberality  toward  all  our  con- 
nectional  objects. 

"  'He  early  won  and  has  held  the  respect,  affec- 
tion, and  confidence  of  Cincinnati  Methodists.  He 
is  to-day  the  recognized  wise  and  judicious  leader 
of  the  Protestant  ministers  and  laymen  of  our  city 
in  all  concerted  plans  and  efforts  to  secure  public 
reforms — such  as  Sabbath  observance,  enforcement 


$6  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

of  law  and  order,  and  other  good  works.  Our  best 
citizens  of  all  classes — Church-goers  and  non- 
Church-goers — hold  him  in  high  esteem. 

"  'Permit,  therefore,  the  undersigned  to  express 
the  hope  and  wish  that,  if  it  shall  create  no  em- 
barrassment in  making  your  selections,  Bishop  I. 
W.  JVyce  be  allowed  to  select  Cincinnati  for  his 
home.' 

"Another  paper,  having  the  same  object  in  view, 
has  also  been  forwarded  to  the  Board  of  Bishops, 
supported  by  resolutions  passed  by  the  Official 
Boards  of  nineteen  Methodist  Churches  in  Cincin- 
nati and  vicinity." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

His  Episcopal   Residences:  Chattanooga  and 
Minneapolis. 

CHATTANOOGA,  TENNESSEE,  was  the 
first  episcopal  residence  of  Bishop  Joyce. 
At  the  time  of  his  election  the  bishops  in 
the  order  of  seniority  chose  their  places  of  resi- 
dence from  the  cities  designated  by  the  General 
Conference  as  episcopal  residences.  Since  then 
the  plan  of  assigning  the  bishops  to  their  resi- 
dences by  the  General  Conference  itself  has  been 
introduced. 

Bishop  and  Mrs.  Jo}Tce  removed  at  once  to 
Chattanooga,  and  for  eight  years  that  city  was 
their  home.  Their  son,  Frank,  during  Dr.  Joyce's 
stay  in  Cincinnati,  had  married  Miss  Jessie  Birch, 
daughter  of  Hon.  Jesse  Birch,  of  Bloomington, 
Illinois,  and  Cincinnati  became  their  home  for 
some  years.  Later  the  two  families  were  to  be 
delightfully  reunited  at  Minneapolis. 

Bishop  Joyce  threw  himself  with  his  customary 
energy  into  the  work  of  the  Church  in  the  South. 
While  his  presidency  of  Conferences,  in  harmony 
with  our  plan  of  General   Superintendency,  took 

87 


88  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

him  all  over  the  country  and  into  foreign  lands, 
yet  he  was  able  to  keep  in  close  touch  with  the  local 
work  in  Chattanooga,  and  with  the  work  through- 
out the  Central  South. 

The  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of 
Chattanooga,  was  not  then  the  great  Church  it  is 
to-day.  At  the  time  the  bishop  went  to  the  city 
the  Church  was  in  a  discouraged  condition.  The 
salary  was  but  twelve  hundred  dollars  a  year,  and 
the  influence  exerted  by  the  Church  in  the  com- 
munity was  not  large.  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Joyce 
put  their  energies  into  the  work  of  this  Church. 
Mrs.  Joyce  accepted  the  presidency  of  its  Woman's 
Foreign  Missionary  Society.  Bishop  Joyce  at- 
tended the  Official  Board  meetings  whenever  pos- 
sible, and  counseled  with  the  brethren.  New  hope 
and  courage  were  infused  into  the  Church's  work. 
A  leading  layman  of  this  Church  says  that  the 
splendid  growth  achieved  by  this  Church  since  has 
been  due  in  no  small  degree  to  the  counsel  and  en- 
couragement of  Bishop  Jo}^ce. 

Throughout  the  city  also  he  made  his  influ- 
ence felt.  He  preached  in  every  Protestant  church 
in  the  city ;  in  some  of  them  repeatedly.  He  iden- 
tified himself  with  the  city's  life.  Again  and  again 
he  was  the  orator  of  the  local  posts  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  at  their  Decoration-day 
services.     Mrs.  Joyce  organized  the  Kindergarten 


His  Episcopal  Residences.  89 

Association  of  Chattanooga,  and  came  into  pleas- 
ant social  contact  with  the  ladies  of  the  city. 

Bishop  Joyce  looked  carefully  also  into  the 
condition  of  the  town  and  country  Churches.  Into 
every  remote  part  of  the  Holston  Conference  he 
found  his  way,  going  where  no  bishop  had  ever 
before  found  his  way,  according  to  the  statement 
of  laymen  on  the  ground.  He  was  a  true  "epis- 
copos" — overseer.  Rev.  J.  J.  Manker,  D.  D., 
a  prominent  member  of  the  Holston  Conference, 
writes : 

"During  his  stay  at  Chattanooga  he  took  upon 
himself,  perhaps  more  than  any  other  bishop  has 
ever  done,  the  cares  and  burdens  of  the  pastors  and 
Churches,  lavishing  his  own  means  in  efforts  to 
help  where  help  was  sorely  needed  and  could  be 
given  in  no  other  way.  He  never  made  any  dis- 
play of  his  charities,  and  probably  no  one  ever 
knew  how  he  denied  himself  in  order  to  render 
assistance  to  the  needy." 

How  deeply  he  became  interested  in  the  various 
charges  in  the  region  about  him  may  be  inferred 
from  the  following  letter,  written  to  a  young  min- 
ister in  a  Northern  State,  as  the  latter  was  about 
leaving  his  first  pastorate: 

"Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  March  L'h  1889. 

"My  Dear : 

"It  has  been  in  my  heart  many  days  to  write 
you.      I   want   a   pastor   for   Anniston,   Alabama. 


90  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

We  are  building  a  new  stone  church  at  a  cost 
of  sixteen  thousand  dollars.  It  will  be  finished  in 
May.  The  town  has  twelve  thousand  people.  Very 
many  of  them  are  from  the  North.  They  are  of 
our  Church,  and  friends  of  our  cause.  It  is  a  new 
place  for  us.  Whoever  goes  there  will  have  to 
organize  the  Church.  We  will  be  able  to  start  with 
seventy -five  or  one  hundred  members.  The  town 
will  give  five  hundred  dollars,  and  I  will  add  to 
that  three  hundred  dollars  from  the  Missionary 
Society,  making  in  all  eight  hundred  dollars  for 
the  first  year.  We  can  pay  one  thousand  dollars 
the  second  year.  This  is  one  of  the  very  best 
fields  I  know  anywhere  for  a  young  man  who  wants 
to  do  a  great  work  for  God  and  the  Church.  The 
town  will  double  its  population  in  less  than  five 
years.  Do  you  know  of  a  young  man  who  is  thor- 
oughly devoted  and  consecrated  to  the  Lord,  who 
can  preach,  will  visit,  is  good  in  a  prayer-meeting ; 
loves  Sunday-school  work — in  short,  loves  to  do  the 
work  of  a  Methodist  preacher?  Do  you  know  of 
such  a  young  man — not  one  who  you  think  would 
do,  but  one  who  you  know  would  do?  It  has  been 
the  prayer  of  my  very  inmost  thought  and  heart 
all  day  to-day  that  it  may  be  the  will  of  the  Lord 
to  put  it  into  your  heart  to  say  to  me  that  you 
will  take  this  field  and  cultivate  it  for  the  blessed 
Christ.  If  such  should  be  the  case,  I  would  be  the 
happiest  man  in  this  whole  Southland. 

"Now,  my  dear  boy,  let  me  hear  from  you  at 
the  earliest  possible  moment,  for  I  must  settle  this 
matter  within  the  next  ten  days.     God  bless  you! 

"Faithfully  your  friend, 

"Isaac  W.  Joyce." 


His  Episcopal  Residences.  91 

This  little  incident,  unimportant  in  itself,  shows 
how  Bishop  Joyce  took  all  the  Churches  on  his 
heart.  He  identifies  himself  with  their  interests — 
says  "we  can  pay"  so  much  this  year  and  so  much 
next.  It  is  this  absolute  pouring  out  of  himself 
in  behalf  of  every  part  of  his  field  that  accounts 
for  the  magnitude  of  his  achievements,  and  for  the 
breaking  down  of  his  magnificent  physique  years 
before  a  reasonable  time. 

In  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office  on 
one  occasion,  he  accepted  the  hospitality  of  a  col- 
ored presiding  elder  at  Cleveland,  Tennessee.  Tins 
aroused  the  prejudices  of  some  people,  and  he 
was  bitterly  assailed  in  the  public  press.  He 
made  no  reply  to  these  attacks,  although  they 
wounded  his  sensitive  and  tender  heart  to  the  very 
quick.  Instead,  he  went  steadily  forward  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duties,  and  the  persecution  soon 
spent  itself.  While  the  feeling  was  most  bitter 
he  was  invited  to  preach  at  First  Church  in 
Chattanooga,  and  a  magnificent  audience  turned 
out  to  hear  him,  composed  of  the  leading  citizens 
of  Chattanooga  of  all  Churches.  Coming  when 
and  as  it  did,  this  was  a  great  comfort  to  Bishop 
Joyce,  evidencing  thus  openly  the  high  esteem  in 
which  he  was  held  in  the  city  that  had  been  his 
home  for  five  years. 

In  addition  to  all  his  other  labors,  Bishop  Joyce 


92  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

assumed,  at  the  earnest  and  insistent  request  of 
the  trustees,  the  Chancellorship  of  the  U.  S.  Grant 
University.  He  consented  to  take  this  office  only 
because  it  was  a  critical  time  in  the  institution's 
history,  arising  out  of  causes  which  led  also  to 
the  consolidation  of  our  two  Methodist  colleges 
in  the  Holston  Conference,  located  at  Chattanooga 
and  Athens  respectively.  Bishop  Joyce  received 
no  salary.  The  services  he  rendered  in  this  im- 
portant position  are  declared  to  have  been  of  in- 
estimable value  to  the  Church.  And  in  this  work 
Mr.  John  A.  Patten,  a  prominent  layman  of  the 
Holston  Conference,  says,  "He  showed  the  qualities 
of  a  statesman." 

At  the  close  of  the  General  Conference  of  1896 
Bishop  Jo}rce  transferred  his  residence  to  Minne- 
apolis, Minnesota.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  his 
son,  Colonel  Frank  M.  Joyce,  had  recently  removed 
to  that  city,  this  change  of  residence  was  especially 
gratifying  to  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Joyce.  Minne- 
apolis continued  to  be  their  home  for  over  nine 
years,  until  Bishop  Joyce  was  called  to  his  heav- 
enly home. 

Almost  immediately  after  taking  up  his  resi- 
dence in  Minneapolis  (June,  1896),  Bishop  and 
Mrs.  Joyce  left  for  the  Orient,  where  the  bishop 
supervised  for  two  years  our  Conferences  in  Japan, 
Korea,  and  China.  This  foreign  work  is  described 
in  another  chapter. 


His  Episcopal  Residences.  93 

Before  leaving  for  the  Orient,  Bishop  Joyce 
preached  at  the  Hennepin  Avenue  Church  in  Min- 
neapolis. Reference  to  the  occasion  is  made  by 
one  of  the  local  dailies  as  follows: 

"Bishop  Joyce,  who  is  to  relieve  Bishop  Fowler 
as  the  head  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  Northwest,  preached  his  first  sermon  to  a 
Minnesota  congregation  at  Hennepin  Avenue 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  3'esterday  morning. 
It  was  a  living  sermon,  full  of  hope  and  faith  in 
the  glorious  possibilities  of  human  nature,  and 
seemed  born  of  the  June  sunshine  and  beautiful 
flowers  that  filled  the  church. 

"Bishop  Jo}rce  is  first  of  all  a  preacher.  He 
has  a  kindly  face,  a  devout  enthusiasm,  and  that 
rarest  of  gifts,  personal  magnetism.  There  was 
vitality,  earnestness,  and  cheerfulness  in  all  he  said, 
and  his  impassioned  appeal  for  a  deeper  under- 
standing of  the  'things  which  are  not  seen,'  stirred 
his  hearers  profoundly.  Bishop  Joyce's  voice  is 
eloquent  even  in  his  colloquial  speech,  and  in  the 
higher  flights  of  pure  oratory  it  was  greatly  ef- 
fective. 

"The  bishop  took  for  his  text  %  Cor.  iv,  18, 
'While  we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen, 
but  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen.  For  the 
things  which  are  seen  are  temporal,  but  the  things 
which  are  not  seen  are  eternal.' 

"He  said  in  part:  'This  world,  which  is  but  an 
aggregation  of  material  things,  is  of  less  impor- 
tance than  it  seems  to  be.  We  want  to  feel  that  the 
foundations  under  us  are  immovable,  and  we  reach 


94  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

out  to  touch  that  which  is  not  possible.  The  mental 
is  greater  than  the  material,  and  the  spiritual  can 
not  be  satisfied  with  that  which  is  merely  for  the 
passing  moment.  No  thoughtful  man  regards  the 
pleasures  that  come  out  of  material  things  as  his 
greatest  blessings.  It  is  a  World  of  beauty,  and 
life  and  light,  that  sometimes  makes  us  feel  that 
it  is  the  only  world.  And  when  I  reflect  that  the 
majority  of  the  people  in  it  go  to  bed  hungry, 
and  that  the  morrow  can  bring  them  nothing  but 
the  hope  of  going  forth  to  battle  for  existence,  I 
do  not  wonder  that  men  learn  to  think  beyond  the 
hour.  We  come  into  this  great  world  and  push 
and  fight  and  crowd.  Then  there  is  darkness  and 
we  pass  out,  and  if  that  were  all  I  would  rather 
now  break  through  the  crust  of  things  into  the 
dust  of  oblivion.' 

"The  bishop  then  spoke  earnestly  of  a  better 
world,  and  mentioned  with  the  deepest  satisfaction 
that  scientific  men  were  to-day  finding  the  truths 
of  the  Bible  not  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  the 
universe;  that  'men  of  the  highest  scholarship  are 
beginning  to  find  that  there  is  another  life  just 
next  door  to  this  material  life;  that  justice  says, 
unless  there  is  another  life  this  life  is  a  mocker}', 
and  infinite  wisdom  is  toying  with  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  men.  Christ  has  said  there  is  another 
world.  God  has  said  it,  and,  Father  divine,  I  thank 
Thee  for  the  declaration.' 

"Continuing,  the  bishop  said  men  could  not 
hope  to  come  to  an  understanding  with  their  Heav- 
enly Father  in  this  world.  In  that  better  life  alone 
would  it  be  possible  for  them  to  achieve  His  great- 


His  Episcopal  Residences.  95 

est  development,  and  realize  all  His  grand  possi- 
bilities. The  Father,  too,  would  then  have  a  better 
chance  to  show  the  efficacy  of  His  grace. 

"  'When  the  sun  goes  down  to-day  it  will  set 
upon  a  better  world  than  it  looked  upon  this  morn- 
ing. This  is  the  best  world  since  our  first  parents 
were  in  Eden.  The  Bible  is  a  bigger  book  to-day 
than  ever,  and  this  material  universe  is  richer  than 
our  fathers  ever  dreamed.  In  1896,  Jesus  Christ 
is  a  larger  Christ  than  He  was  1800  years  ago.' 

"At  the  close  of  his  sermon,  Bishop  Joyce  ad- 
dressed his  congregation  on  a  personal  matter.  'I 
am  very  sorry  I  can  not  move  here  for  some  time,' 
he  said;  'duty  calls  me  to  Korea,  Japan,  and  China, 
and  I  leave  here  Wednesday  morning.  My  plans 
are  to  be  absent  two  years,  but  I  hope  to  be  with 
you  in  March  or  April,  1898.  I  never  shirk  my 
duty,  and  I  go  to  those  distant  lands  with  the  same 
faith  that  I  would  visit  your  Churches  here.  Re- 
member me  in  your  family  prayers,  and  I  will  pray 
for  you.'  " 

Bishop  and  Mrs.  Joyce  returned  from  the 
Orient  in  April,  1898,  and  immediately  proceeded 
to  Minneapolis.  They  wTere  given  receptions  by 
the  Churches  of  both  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul. 
The  St.  Paul  Pioneer-Press  gives  the  following  de- 
scription of  the  reception  at  the  latter  city,  in 
which  the  governor  took  part: 

"Such  a  welcome  as  Bishop  Isaac  W.  Joyce 
received  last  evening  in  the  Central  Park  Church 
from  the  members  of  the  Methodist  congregations 


96  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

of  St.  Paul  will  live  long  in  his  memory.  The 
bishop  only  recently  took  up  his  residence  in  Minne- 
apolis, and  the  reception  last  evening  was  taken 
as  an  opportunity  for  the  clergy  and  the  laymen 
to  meet  him  and  Mrs.  Joyce. 

"Every  Methodist  Church  in  the  city  was  rep- 
resented in  the  audience  which  faced  the  bishop  and 
those  on  the  pulpit  platform  with  him.  Governor 
and  Mrs.  Lind  were  there,  and  so  were  Rev. 
Benjamin  Longle}',  pastor  of  Central  Park;  Dr. 
Bridgman,  president  of  Hamline  University  ;  Judge 
Brill  and  Dr.  F.  M.  Rule,  presiding  elder  of  the 
St.  Paul  District.  Dr.  Rule  was  the  chairman  of 
the  meeting.  Beautiful  flowers  and  potted  plants 
were  placed  in  profusion  about  the  platform. 

"Addresses  of  welcome  were  delivered  to  the 
bishop  and  to  his  wife.  Mrs.  Longley  addressed 
the  greeting  of  the  women  to  Mrs.  Joyce,  and  she 
responded  feelingly.  Dr.  Bridgman  spoke  on  be- 
half of  the  ministers,  and  Judge  Brill  on  behalf 
of  the  laity. 

"  'Our  Church  has  been  very  fortunate,'  said 
Judge  Brill,  'in  its  selections  of  men  for  the  high 
office  of  bishop.  A  Methodist  bishop  is  no  ordi- 
nary bishop.  He  is  the  head  of  one  of  the  greatest 
religious  organizations  upon  the  globe.  Unlike 
any  other  potentate,  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  he 
is  not  confined  to  any  State,  or  continent,  or  nation. 
His  diocese  is  the  world.  We  are  to  be  congratu- 
lated to-night  that  we  have  as  guest  one  of  these 
Methodist  bishops,  and  that  he  has  come  to  live 
among  us  and  be  our  neighbor  and  friend,  and  we 
are  to  felicitate  ourselves  that  he  is  a  bishop  who 


His  Episcopal  Residences.  97 

so  nearly  fills  the  Pauline  ideal — that  he  is  so 
spiritually  minded,  so  zealous  in  good  works,  so 
abundant  in  labors,  and  is  so  in  touch  with  the 
life  of  the  plain  people.  The  people  of  this  Pauline 
city  bid  this  Pauline  bishop  welcome. 

"  'We  need  his  ripe  experience,  his  wise  counsel, 
and  the  stirring  influence  of  his  spiritual  force. 
The  people  of  New  York  and  other  communities 
are  wont  to  think  that  about  everything  worth 
while  resides  with  them,  and  that  we  provincials 
are  narrow  and  uncultured.  Perhaps  in  our  battle 
with  the  elements  of  nature,  which  we  have  had 
to  subdue  in  this  new  country,  we  of  the  West  have 
given  too  little  attention  to  the  block  of  our  hats 
or  the  cut  of  our  coats.  However  this  may  be,  we 
can  assure  Bishop  Joyce  and  Mrs.  Joyce  that  we 
have  warm  hearts,  and  into  the  innermost  recesses 
of  our  affections  we  to-night  bid  them  enter.  Our 
hearts,  our  homes,  and  our  extremest  means  lie  all 
unlocked  to  their  occasions.' 

"Governor  Lind,  so  the  chairman  stated  in  his 
presentation  remarks,  had  been  asked  to  represent 
'all  creation'  by  his  presence  at  the  reception.  The 
governor  said  his  mother  was  a  Methodist,  and 
therefore  Methodism  meant  much  to  him.  'It  is 
one  of  the  Churches  of  the  world,'  said  he,  'that 
has  never  felt  the  blight  of  being  a  State  Church.' 
Then  he  told  how  important  a  factor  the  Methodist 
Church  is  in  religion,  and  in  education,  'and — yes, 
in  politics,'  he  added.  He  concluded  by  extending 
a  hearty  welcome  to  the  bishop  and  his  wife. 

"When  the  bishop  commenced  to  speak  his 
voice  was  soft  and  low,  but  pretty  soon  he  'got 
7 


98  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

warmed  up,'  as  he  himself  expressed  it,  and  talked 
in  the  old-fashioned  Methodist  way.  His  auditors 
were  delighted,  for  Bishop  Joyce  is  one  of  the 
most  entertaining  of  pulpit  orators.  He  told  of 
the  work  of  the  bishops,  and  he  confided  to  his  lis- 
teners that  he  would  like  nothing  better  than  an 
opportunity  to  discontinue  for  a  period  his  regular 
duties  and  make  a  tour  of  the  State  and  go  into 
the  homes  of  the  laymen.  He  desired  to  come  into 
contact  with  the  laity.  He  was  glad  that  he  had 
been  brought  into  Minnesota  'to  help  a  little  in 
the  building  up  of  righteousness  in  the  North- 
west.' 

"The  bishop  returned  to  this  country  from 
China  last  April  after  a  tour  of  the  world.  He 
has  therefore  traveled  much.  He  is  a  keen  student 
of  human  nature.  He  spoke  in  the  Norwegian  and 
Swedish  tongues  toward  the  close  of  his  remarks, 
and  alluded  to  the  purpose  of  the  Methodist  Church 
to  raise  twenty  million  dollars  as  a  twentieth-cen- 
tury thank-offering  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the 
Church.  He  urged  all  to  help,  especially  in  the 
work  of  securing  two  million  converts  while  the 
great  fund  is  being  raised." 

In  Minneapolis  and  throughout  the  Northwest 
Bishop  Joyce  threw  himself  into  the  work  just  as 
he  had  done  in  the  South.  Dedicating  churches  by 
the  score,  preaching  on  special  occasions,  speaking 
at  camp-meetings,  conventions,  and  Conferences, 
besides  all  the  regular  work  in  presiding  at  the 
Annual  Conferences  filled  his  days  and  nights  with 


His  Episcopal  Residences.  90 

toil.     The  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate  says 
of  him: 

"The  same  spirit  of  helpfulness  which  he  dis- 
played toward  his  members  when  a  pastor  he  dis- 
played toward  Churches  after  he  became  a  bishop. 
During  his  residence  in  Minneapolis  he  devoted 
himself  to  the  work  of  the  Church,  particularly  to 
that  part  of  the  Church  needing  him  most.  From 
deliberate  conviction  he  gave  himself  to  the  weaker 
Churches,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  record  that  he 
preached  and  lectured,  frequently  paying  his  own 
expenses  and  always  without  compensation,  at 
ninety-two  places  in  the  Northwest  which  had  never 
before  been  visited  by  a  bishop  of  our  communion." 

From  a  personal  letter  from  Dr.  Fayette  L. 
Thompson,  pastor  of  Hennepin  Avenue  Church, 
Minneapolis,  printed  in  the  Central  Christian  Ad- 
vocate of  January  25,  1905,  we  quote: 

"I  wrote  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  Central  a 
quotation  from  my  calendar  relative  to  the  love 
and  esteem  in  which  Bishop  Joyce  and  his  family 
are  held  by  Hennepin  Avenue  Church.  I  am  glad 
you  used  that,  yet  had  I  known  you  were  to  do 
so,  I  would  have  made  it  much  stronger.  I  most 
confidently  believe  that  Bishop  Joyce  and  his  fam- 
ily come  as  near  to  the  actual  New  Testament  of 
what  a  bishop  in  the  Church  of  God  should  be 
as  it  is  possible  for  flesh  and  blood.  When  in  the 
city  the  Bishop  is  always  at  prayer-meeting,  mod- 
est, retiring,  requesting  to  be  permitted  to  sit  with 


100  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

the  worshipers  and  to  be  given  no  more  attention 
than  though  he  were  a  layman.  On  a  number 
of  occasions,  when  unusually  pressed  with  work,  he 
has  called  up  the  pastor  over  the  telephone  early 
Thursday  evening  to  say  that  he  had  expected  to 
be  at  the  service,  but  he  did  not  see  how  he  could 
come  that  evening,  but  that  his  heart  and  prayers 
were  with  us  in  our  devotions.  In  these  days, 
when  it  is  rumored  that  some  bishops  and  even  some 
presiding  elders  are  so  great  in  the  offices  they  hold 
as  to  be  excused  from  the  usual  personal  loyalties 
to  the  local  Church  expected  from  influential  peo- 
ple, it  is  indeed  a  delight  to  have  in  one's  congre- 
gation such  people  as  this  saintly  bishop  and  his 
family.  If  there  is  a  solitary  thing  in  which  he 
can  help  any  pastor  in  the  city  that  he  is  not  doing, 

/I  am  frank  to  say  that  I  do  not  know  it.  He  is  a 
blessing  and  inspiration  to  all  of  us,  and  withal 
as  genial  and  modest  as  a  child.  Someway  it  seems 
to  me  if  the  Church  could  appreciate  its  saints 
while  they  are  still  with  us  more  than  we  do,  it 
would  be  well — well  for  them,  well  for  us." 

In  1902  Bishop  Joyce  was  assigned  to  visit 
our  Conferences  in  South  America,  and  late  that 
autumn  he  and  Mrs.  Joyce  sailed  for  that  country. 
The  description  of  his  work  there  is  given  in  the 
chapter  on  "Foreign  Missions."  On  their  return 
to  this  country  a  reception  on  a  large  scale  was 
planned  for  them  by  Minneapolis  Methodists.  The 
following  account  of  it  is  from  the  Minneapolis 
Times : 


His  Episcopal  Residences.  101 

"The  deep  respect  and  genuine  affection  the 
Methodists  of  the  city  feel  for  Bishop  Isaac  W. 
Joyce  and  his  wife  were  manifested  last  evening 
in  a  reception  in  Wesley  Church,  such  as  is  rarely 
accorded  any  one  on  their  home  coming. 

"Those  present  were  not  wholly  confined  to 
Methodism,  but  all  denominations  joined  in  giving 
welcome  to  the  man  and  woman  who  have  devoted 
their  lives  to  the  good  of  mankind. 

"Wesley  Church  has  rarely  presented  a  more 
beautiful  appearance,  nor  held  a  more  notable 
array  of  speakers,  for  nation,  State,  and  Church 
were  represented.  In  his  address  Bishop  Joyce 
said  that  no  one  quite  realized  the  beauties  of  the 
American  flag  until  one  had  spent  some  time  in 
foreign  lands,  and  it  seemed  in  special  keeping  with 
his  expressed  love  for  his  country's  emblem  that 
innumerable  flags  were  used  to  decorate  the  church. 

"The  entire  balcony  and  Sunday-school  was 
draped  with  flags,  and  the  supporting  pillars  were 
wound  with  the  national  colors.  Draping  the  pul- 
pit rail  and  organ  were  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and 
red  and  white  bunting  hung  over  doorways  and 
arches.  Palms  and  American  Beauty  roses  added 
to  the  beautiful  effect. 

"Dr.  Mark  Smith  presided,  introducing  the 
speakers,  who  were  Governor  Samuel  R.  Van  Sant, 
Senator  Moses  E.  Clapp,  Congressman  John  Lind, 
Mayor  J.  C.  Haynes,  Dr.  William  Fielder,  Dr. 
Robert  Forbes,  and  Dr.  James  S.  Montgomery. 

"Governor  Van  Sant  in  a  few  well  chosen  words 
honored  the  bishop  as  a  man,  and  for  his  work 
welcomed  him  back  to  the  great  Commonwealth  of 
Minnesota. 


102  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

"Senator  Clapp  spoke  in  eloquent  language  of 
the  good  that  was  being  accomplished  by  men  and 
women  like  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Joyce,  and  he  be- 
lieved that  the  world  was  growing  better. 

"Mr.  Lind  emphasized  the  fact  that  in  all  the 
recent  interviews  given  by  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Joyce 
they  had  always  spoken  well  of  the  country  in 
which  they  were  carrying  on  their  work.  They 
had  always  found  something  encouraging,  some- 
thing hopeful.  Mr.  Lind  added,  "We  are  not 
here  to  welcome  a  hero  from  many  battles,  but  a 
man  and  wife  engaged  in  good  work,  and  this  is 
of  infinitely  more  good  to  the  world  than  battle- 
scarred  heroes.' 

"Mayor  Efoynes  paid  a  warm  tribute  to  the 
unselfish  life,  doing  good  to  others,  bringing  to  the 
soul  of  man  comfort,  a  life  that  deserved  and  re- 
ceived the  respect  of  all  men. 

"In  Bishop  Joyce  was  found  the  kind  of  hu- 
man nature  that  grows  younger,  the  kind  that 
never  grows  old. 

"Dr.  Fielder  told  that  a  woman  recently  re- 
turning from  India  said  that  no  one  had  left  there 
richer  memories,  holier  influences,  a  more  perma- 
nently good  impression  than  had  Bishop  and  Mrs. 
Joyce,  and  it  was  the  same,  Mr.  Fielder  said,  in 
Japan,  Korea,  South  America,  and  every  other 
place  in  which  they  had  engaged  in  work. 

"He  believed  in  giving  the  word  of  encourage- 
ment, the  tribute  of  flowers  from  the  heart,  to  the 
living,  and  not  wait  until  they  were  dead,  and  he 
sincerely  hoped  that  when  Bishop  Joyce  left  the 
Church  militant  to  join  the  Church  triumphant, 
he  might  leave  from  Minneapolis. 


His  Episcopal  Residences.  103 

"Dr.  Forbes  added  his  quota  of  praise  for 
Bishop  Joyce  and  his  wife,  and  told  a  number 
of  witty  anecdotes. 

"Though  not  on  the  program,  there  was  so 
insistent  a  call  for  Dr.  Montgomery  that  he  spoke 
a  few  words  of  welcome  and  appreciation  of  Bishop 
Joyce's  kindly  nature. 

"Had  there  ever  been  even  the  slightest  doubt 
in  Bishop  Joyce's  mind  as  to  the  sincerity  of  the 
welcome,  it  must  have  vanished  as  he  arose  to 
respond. 

"Almost  instantly  every  man  and  woman  in 
the  audience  were  on  their  feet,  wildly  applauding 
and  waving  handkerchiefs.  It  was  several  minutes 
before  the  bishop  was  able  to  speak. 

"He  dwelt  principally  upon  his  work  in  South 
America.  It  was  his  honest  conviction,  he  said, 
that  the  United  States  had  only  the  good-will  of 
those  people,  and  more  so  now  that  we  had  shown 
such  interest  in  the  Panama  Canal,  of  which  the 
bishop  was  in  hearty  favor.  It  was  surprising,  he 
said,  to  note  the  strong  desire  everywhere  among 
them  to  learn  to  speak  English. 

"Bishop  Joyce  and  Mrs.  Joyce  expect  to  re- 
turn to  South  America  in  December,  and  will  re- 
main until  the  following  May,  when  they  will  go 
to  Los  Angeles  to  attend  the  General  Conference. 

"At  the  close  of  the  program,  Bishop  and  Mrs. 
Joyce,  Governor  Van  Sant,  Senator  Clapp,  Mr. 
Lind,  and  Mr.  Haynes  received  the  guests,  of  whom 
there  were  nearly  a  thousand." 


CHAPTER  X. 
/ 

As  an  Administrator. 


BISHOP  JOYCE  was  not  a  man  of  the  ju- 
dicial but  of  the  ardent  temperament. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  highly  important  ad- 
ministrative work  involved  in  the  functions  of  a 
bishop  he  proved  himself  a  wise  superintendent. 
The  fervor  of  his  nature  was  balanced  by  a  sturdy 
common  sense,  which  extraordinarily  intimate  con- 
tact with  men  re-enforced.  So  that  as  a  judge  of 
human  nature  he  had  a  penetration  rare  to  a  man 
of  his  temperament.  Added  to  this  was  an  extreme 
conscientiousness — a  positive  passion  to  do  the  best 
possible  for  the  men  and  Churches  committed  to 
his  charge.  These  two  qualities,  combined  with  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  practical  workings  of 
Methodist  economy,  made  him  one  of  the  most  ef- 
ficient administrators  of  recent  years  among  Meth- 
odist bishops.  Some  of  our  general  superintend- 
ents have  been  men  so  long  out  of  the  ranks  of 
the  pastorate  and  presiding  eldership,  or  so  short 
a  time  in  it  at  all,  as  that  they  were  not  conversant 
with  the  practical  problems  of  the  itinerant  system, 

104 


As  an  Administrator.  105 

but  dealt  with  thern  from  a  doctrinaire  viewpoint, 
to  the  hurt  of  the  cause.  The  fact  that  Bishop 
Joyce  had  been  for  thirty  years  in  the  active  ranks 
of  the  ministry  was  greatly  in  his  favor  in  the  ad- 
ministrative work  of  the  Episcopacy. 

Bishop  Joyce  might  appropriately  be  styled 
"The  Pastor's  Bishop."  His  sympathies  were 
strongly  with  the  ministers.  He  invited  their  con- 
fidence. He  was  in  the  habit  of  asking  them,  from 
the  least  to  the  greatest,  to  come  and  lay  their 
matters  before  him.  While  he  could  not  always 
do  for  them  what  they  desired,  yet  he  treated  them 
as  brothers.  At  the  Conference '  at  The  Dalles, 
Oregon,  in  189.5,  for  instance,  he  said:  "Brethren, 
I  have  never  yet  felt  that  I  was  a  bishop.  I  feel 
like  one  of  the  brethren.  I  am  here  to  help  you." 
At  another  Conference  he  said :  "When  I  was  made 
a  bishop  I  made  a  vow  that  I  would  be  a  brother 
to  every  Methodist  preacher  around  the  world." 
And  the  Methodist  preachers  everywhere  declare 
that  he  was. 

When  it  occurred,  as  it  must  in  the  very  nature 
of  the  case,  that  men  had  to  be  sent  to  hard  fields 
and  to  disappointments,  criticism  was  largely  dis- 
armed by  the  evident  grief  it  caused  him. 

Presiding  elders  who  have  sat  in  his  cabinets 
testify  to  his  solicitude  for  the  preachers  and  the 
preachers'   wives.      The  hearts  in  the  parsonage, 


106  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

and  especially  in  the  little  parsonage,  were  the  con- 
stant objects  of  his  thought  and  care.  Yet  he 
was  accustomed  to  appeal  to  their  loyalty  and  hero- 
ism by  saying:  "The  preacher  who  gets  a  poor 
appointment  must  remember  that  Jesus  had  not 
where  to  lay  His  head." 

Bishop  Joyce  himself  had  been  a  pastor  for 
thirty  years,  the  earlier  part  of  that  time  in  the 
very  humblest  circuits.  If,  as  George  Matheson 
says,  "All  sympathy  is  memory,"  he  had  a  very 
discernible  basis  for  his  sympathy  with  poor 
preachers.  He  knew  their  sorrows  and  burdens, 
the  injustices  under  which  they  often  suffered,  the 
trivial  faults  and  blunders  which  would  so  often 
result  in  the  request  for  their  removal  from  a 
charge.  Hence  he  was  ever  ready  to  hear  the 
preacher's  side  of  the  case.  Especially  was  the 
bishop  ready  to  champion  his  cause  if  he  found 
that  the  preacher  was  being  removed  to  gratify 
one  or  two  worldly  officials  in  the  Church.  Even 
though  the  aforesaid  officials  had  been  able  to  se- 
cure an  adverse  vote  in  the  last  Quarterly  Confer- 
ence of  the  year,  that  gauntlet  which  every  Meth- 
odist preacher  has  to  run  each  year,  the  preacher 
would  go  back. 

Nor  did  the  Churches  themselves  suffer  under 
this  course.  We  have  watched  the  results  in  many 
Conferences,   and   have   heard   very   little   adverse 


As  an  Administrator.  107 

criticism.  Bishop  Joyce  went  on  the  theory  that 
it  was  good  for  the  Churches  themselves  to  treat 
their  preachers  with  consideration  and  respect. 
And  the  results  justified  his  course. 

Committees  of  laymen  were  always  received 
with  kindness  and  given  a  fair  hearing.  Yet  a 
course  was  pursued  which  was  calculated  to  make 
Churches  careful  about  whom  they  appointed  to 
represent  their  interests.  He  was  accustomed  to 
ask  Church  committees  two  or  three  questions  which 
sometimes  proved  embarrassing.  Such  as :  "Do  you 
attend  regularly  the  services  of  the  Church,  includ- 
ing prayer-meeting  ?  Do  you  have  family  prayers  ? 
Do  you  stand  by  the  preacher  in  his  revival  work? 
Do  you  take  the  Church  paper?"  If  the  com- 
mittee could  not  answer  these  questions  with  some 
degree  of  satisfaction,  the  bishop  would  decline 
to  hear  them,  telling  them  kindly  but  firmly  that 
they  were  not  proper  persons  to  be  intrusted  with 
the  selection  of  a  pastor.  This  did  not  mean  that 
the  Church  would  go  unrepresented,  for  the  presid- 
ing elders  rarely  failed  to  do  the  most  ample  jus- 
tice to  the  Church's  desires.  Often,  of  course,  com- 
mittees could  answer  his  questions  in  the  affirm- 
ative, in  which  case  the  bishop  heard  them  fully. 
He  frequently  had  prayer  with  these  lay  com- 
mittees before  separating.  At  a  Conference  in  the 
Central  West  a  committee  representing  a  strong 


108  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

Church  called  on  the  bishop  to  make  certain  repre- 
sentations concerning  a  new  pastor.  At  their  head 
was  a  prominent  physician.  A  conversation  sub- 
stantially as  follows  ensued  after  the  committee 
had  been  introduced,  the  bishop  asking:  "You  are 
Dr.  Blank?"  "Yes,  sir."  "Does  this  newspaper 
paragraph  refer  to  you  ?"  At  the  same  time  hand- 
ing the  physician  a  clipping  which  told  how  the 
doctor  had  won  a  progressive  euchre  prize  a  few 
nights  before.  The  physician's  face  flushed,  and 
he  acknowledged  that  he  was  the  man  referred  to; 
also  that  he  did  not  have  time  to  attend  either  the 
prayer-meeting  or  revival  services.  The  bishop 
courteously  but  decidedly  declined  to  hear  the 
doctor  as  to  a  new  minister.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
the  Church  got  the  minister  they  were  after,  but 
it  was  not  through  the  committee,  but  through  the 
regular  authority,  the  presiding  elder.  A  pleas- 
ing aftermath  of  this  incident  is  that  the  physician 
has  never  since  been  known  to  touch  a  card. 

At  a  Conference  in  the  Far  West  a  Church  was 
asking  for  the  removal  of  its  pastor.  Inasmuch 
as  the  preacher's  revival  and  benevolence  report 
was  exceptionally  fine  the  bishop  inquired  espe- 
cially as  to  the  action  of  the  Church.  He  learned 
that  the  fourth  Quarterly  Conference  had  taken 
action  against  the  preacher  because  of  the  influ- 
ence of  the  most  wealthy  layman  in  the  Church, 


As  an  Administrator.  109 

who  had  been  offended  by  some  public  utterance 
of  the  preacher  on  civic  matters.  Bishop  Joyce 
sent  for  the  layman,  and  a  conversation  substan- 
tially as  follows  occurred: 

"You  desire  a  change  of  pastors?" 
"Yes,  sir." 

"Is  not  your  present  pastor  a  man  of   good 
character?" 

"O  yes,  Bishop,  he  is  an  excellent  man." 
"Does  n't  he  preach  well?" 


"Yes,  there  is  no  complaint  about  his  preach 

abilities." 

"He  has  had  a  good  revival  this  year 


he?"  / 

"Yes,  he  has  taken  in  quite  a  number  of 
people." 

"How  about  his  benevolent  collections  ?  are  n't 
they  well  up?"  \ 

"Yes,  I  understand  they  are.  But  you  see, 
Bishop,  he  has  offended  some  of  our  people  by 
indiscreet  utterances.  And  the  Official  Board 
thinks,  for  the  sake  of  harmony  and  the  good  of 
the  Church,  we  ought  to  have  a  change." 

"Do  }rou  know  anything  about  the  club-house 
in  the  suburbs  of  your  city?" 

The  layman  stirred  uneasily. 

"Why,  yes,  there  is  such  a  club-house." 

"There  is  a  great  deal  of  gambling  there,  is    .• 
there  not?"  / 

"Well,  there  is  some  card-playing  there,  with/ 
perhaps  an  occasional  bet." 


110  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 


You  own  some  stock  in  the  club-house,  do  n't 


you 


p» 


"I  own  some  little  stock  along  with  business 
men  generally  in  that  city." 

"Do  you  not  own  the  majority  of  the  stock?" 

"I  said  I  own  some  of  the  stock." 

"Won't  }Tou  please  be  explicit,  and  tell  me 
whether  you  do  or  do  not  own  four-sevenths  of  the 
stock  in  this  club-house?" 

The  layman  acknowledged  that  he  did. 

Bishop  Joyce  went  on:  "My  brother,  do  you 
think  that  a  man  who  owns  the  majority  of  the 
stock  in  an  institution  that  carries  on  gambling  as 
a  part  of  its  equipment  is  the  proper  person  to 
dictate  the  appointment  and  removal  of  pastors 
in  the  Church  of  God?  Your  minister  is  going 
back.  And  I  advise  you  to  either  change  your 
mode  of  life,  or  in  all  honesty  withdraw  from  the 
Church  which  your  course  is  dishonoring." 

Of  course  the  wealthy  layman  went  away 
angry.  But  no  sober-minded  man  will  doubt  that 
a  like  course  of  procedure  on  the  part  of  the 
appointing  powers  would  save  some  ministers  from 
crucifixion  at  the  hands  of  godless  lay  officials, 
would  give  other  ministers  courage  to  deal  with 
cases  of  outbreaking  evil,  and  would  by  these 
means  furnish  the  whole  Church  a  moral  tonic 
and  the  world  a  token  of  sincerity  on  the  part  of 
the  Church  which  are  very  much  needed. 

Bishop  Joyce  himself  told  this  incident: 


As  an  Administrator.  Ill 

"Once  there  came  into  my  room  at  a  certain 
Conference,  for  private  interview,  four  very  in- 
fluential looking  Church  officials,  desiring  a  change 
of  pastor,  because,  somehow,  they  hardly  knew 
why,  their  present  pastor,  there  but  one  year,  had 
failed  to  have  success.  To  each  of  my  questions 
as  to  his  scholarship,  preaching,  ability,  piety, 
pastoral  fidelity,  social  qualities,  and  personal  ap- 
pearance, they  said,  'He  is  number  one.'  'Well,' 
said  I,  'brethren,  there  is  another  side;  let  us  in- 
quire into  it.'  And  upon  interrogation  I  found 
that  not  one  of  them  ever  read  a  Church  paper 
or  had  family  worship  or  attended  class  or 
prayer  meetings,  or  Sunday-school,  and  but  seldom 
even  the  regular  Sunday  services.  And  yet 
scarcely  ever  missed  any  club  or  lodge  or  social 
function.  'Well,  well,'  said  I,  'brethren,  having 
heard  your  confession,  I  must  say  I  am  not  sur- 
prised that  he  has  had  no  success;  for  with  such 
a  strong  four-horse  team  pulling  back  hard  with 
the  world,  I  could  not  succeed;  neither  could  a 
Wesley  or  a  Paul;  and  even  Christ  Himself,  as 
your  pastor,  would  in  a  measure  fail  to  hold  con- 
verts and  draw  sinners.  Let  us  all  get  down  here, 
alone  with  God,  and  pray  over  this  matter.'  And 
the  Lord  seemed  to  mightily  help  me  as  I  held 
that  persecuted  pastor  and  these  unfaithful  offi- 
cials before  the  throne.  Soon  they  sobbed  and 
cried  to  God  for  mercy.  And,  as  we  rose,  bathed 
in  tears,  they  said,  'Dear  Bishop,  we  will  take  back 
all  we  said  about  a  change  of  pastor,  and  will 
earnestly  seek  for  ourselves  and  others  a  change 
of  heart,  and  do  all  we  can  during  the  coming  year 


112  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

to  hold  up,  encourage,  and  help  our  pastor  to  suc- 
ceed.' Well,  blessed  be  the  Lord,  soon  a  wonder- 
ful revival  came  down  on  that  charge,  and  as  a 
natural  consequence  a  unanimous,  most  earnest  pe- 
tition went  up  to  the  next  Conference  for  the  re- 
turn of  their  much-beloved  pastor.  Thousands  of 
charges  are  in  the  same  condition.  Let  none  but 
the  sinless  hereafter  cast  stones  at  pastors.  And 
go,  all  ye  unfaithful,  and  seek  first  a  change  of 
heart,  and  pastoral  success  and  all  other  blessings 
shall  be  yours." 

That  Bishop  Joyce  made  some  mistakes  is  only 
saying  that  he  was  human.  Every  earnest  man 
makes  some  mistakes.  But  he  did  not  make  the 
most  fatal  of  mistakes — that  of  being  dilettante 
and  half-hearted.  He  administered  for  the  glory 
of  God,  as  he  understood  it.  Believing  profoundly 
in  the  need  of  spiritual  men  and  in  the  danger  of 
worldly  men  dictating  policies,  either  in  pulpit  or 
pew,  he  administered  with  all  his  might  to  secure 
I  the  leadership  of  good  men  everywhere.  Abso- 
lutely sincere  himself,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  he  was  sometimes  deceived  by  men  who 
affected  a  spirituality  they  did  not  possess,  and 
thereby  sometimes  blundered.  These  mistakes  he 
was  always  ready  to  acknowledge  when  he  came 
to  see  them,  and  so  far  as  possible  to  rectify. 

Bishop  Joyce  was  a  conservative  in  theology. 
He  shared  the  limitations  of  those  who  have  not 


As  an  Administrator.  113 

had  the  benefit  of  the  wider  educational  outlook. 
This  occasionally  prevented  his  doing  full  justice 
to  a  man  of  opposite  views. 

But  such  mistakes  were  rare.  The  natural 
catholicity  of  the  man,  his  breadth  of  sympathy, 
his  strong  common  sense,  and  his  constant  looking 
to  God  for  guidance,  together  combined  to  give 
a  wisdom  and  fairness  to  his  administration  which, 
all  things  considered,  was  extraordinary.  We  had 
Bishop  Joyce  in  our  home  during  a  Conference 
session  in  Michigan.  There  was  not  a  night  that 
he  was  not  working  at  the  administrative  problems 
of  that  Conference  until  after  midnight.  He  took 
exquisite  pains  to  get  all  the  facts  and  to  give 
the  fullest  consideration  to  all  the  interests  in- 
volved. Our  wonder  at  the  time  was  that  he  did 
not  break  down  under  the  strain. 

Dr.  William  McK.  Darwood,  of  the  New  York 
Conference,  writes: 

"As  an  administrator  he  was  conscientious  to 
a  degree  that  caused  him  acutest  pain.  In  the  city 
of  Newburg  at  his  request  I  sat  up  with  him  all 
the  last  night  of  the  Conference,  during  which 
time  he  was  in  such  agony  of  soul  that  twice  he 
cried  out  as  the  tears  ran  down  his  face:  'I  would 
gladly  die  to-night  if  I  could  adjust  these  ap- 
pointments so  as  to  satisfy  the  preachers  and  the 
Churches  they  represent.'  His  heart  was  as  tender 
as  that  of  a  woman,  and  every  preacher's  troubles 
8 


114  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

were  carefully  considered.  While  those  that  did 
not  know  him  took  his  devotion  to  duty  for  stub- 
bornness, those  who  knew  him  best  knew  that  it 
was  loyalty  to  God  and  His  Church.  His  defense 
for  all  he  did  was  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  the 
New  Testament." 

Those  deeply  err  who  think  that  it  was  only 
men  of  emotional  temperament  or  conservatives  in 
theology  that  the  bishop  drew  to  him.  He  won 
men  of  the  most  advanced  theology  and  of  the 
most  unimpassioned  temper.  The  following  letter 
written  in  1904,  from  one  of  the  most  intellectual 
preachers  and  advanced  thinkers  in  the  Methodism 
of  the  Central  West  is  simply  a  sample  of  many: 

"My  Dear  Bishop  Joyce: 

"At  no  time  during  the  past  fifteen  years  have 
I  so  enjoyed  a  Conference  presidency  as  I  did 
yours  las-t  fall.  It  was  a  benediction  to  me  and 
to  others.  The  spirit  of  it  throughout  was  such 
as  to  bind  you  close  to  me.  I  feel  as  if  I  knew 
you  now.  I  am  sorry  that  I  have  not  written  this 
earlier,  for  I  have  felt  it  in  my  heart  and  said  it 
to  my  friends  a  score  of  times.  God  bless  you! 
If  ever  you  can  make  it  to  spend  a  day  or  more 
with  us  here,  or  wherever  else  I  may  be,  kindly 
do  so.     It  will  be  much  to  me,  I  know." 

The  gifted  writer  of  this  letter  stood  then  and 
still  stands  in  the  leading  pulpit  of  his  Confer- 
ence,  and   without   having   received    in   any   way 


As  an  Administrator.  115 

favors  from  Bishop  Joyce.  The  letter  quoted  was 
simply  the  result  of  the  strong  spiritual  impres- 
sion made  by  Bishop  Joyce's  utterances  and  ad- 
ministration upon  him. 

The  California  Christian  Advocate  said  edi- 
torially concerning  his  presidency  at  the  Southern 
California   Conference  in   1902: 

"In  matters  of  administration  he  carries  with 
him,  not  only  the  approval  of  all  but  the  admiration 
of  all.  His  path  of  duty  was  sometimes  steep 
and  not  always  clear,  but  with  unwavering  patience 
he  worked  over  his  problems  and  reached  conclu- 
sions into  which  were  woven  the  threads  of  his 
personal  thinking,  and  upon  which  were  stamped 
the  marks  of  his  prayerful  sympathy.  There  were 
some  hard  things,  as  there  nearly  always  are,  to 
be  done,  but  it  is  simple  justice  to  say  that  Bishop 
Joyce,  by  his  kindly  spirit,  accomplished  his  work 
with  the  minimum  of  friction.  In  saying  good- 
bye to  him,  we  voice  the  feeling  of  all  the  Confer- 
ences in  assuring  him,  not  only  that  he  has  done 
us  great  good,  but  that  he  bears  with  him  our 
highest  esteem  and  our  prayerful  gratitude  for 
his   devoted   service   to   our  common   Methodism." 


/ 


CHAPTER    XI. 

As  a  Preacher. 

BISHOP  JOYCE  was  first  of  all  a  preacher. 
His  presence  was  commanding.  A  mas- 
sive head,  on  massive  shoulders,  with  a 
strong  symmetrical  form  to  match,  arrested  the 
attention  of  an  audience  at  once.  While  he  was 
but  five  feet  nine  inches  in  height,  he  appeared 
to  be  all  of  six  feet.  His  face  was  open,  forehead 
high,  eyes  large  and  wide  apart,  and  mouth  ex- 
pressive. The  features  were  regular,  and  consti- 
tuted a  handsome  countenance.  "He  looks  every 
inch  a  bishop,"   was   a   remark   frequently  heard. 

To  this  was  added  an  easy,  graceful  delivery, 
and  a  marvelously  flexible,  sympathetic  voice. 
Every  shade  of  human  feeling  was  within  the  easy 
compass  of  his  voice.  It  could  be  tender,  soft, 
melodious,  like  a  mother  singing  a  lullaby  to  her 
child;  or  it  could  ring  like  a  trumpet  calling  men 
to  battle,  or  thunder  like  a  sea  in  storm. 

Bishop  Joyce  possessed  to  an  extraordinary  de- 
gree the  quality  we  call  personal  magnetism.  It 
is  a  quality  inseparable  from,  if  it  does  not  consist 
116 


As  a  Preacher.  117 


in,  warmth  of  heart  and  breadth  of  sympathy. 
This  warmth  of  heart  glowed  in  his  face,  and 
vibrated  in  his  voice,  and  informed  his  unconscious 
attitudes  with  extraordinary  winsomeness.  In  this 
he  resembled  George  Whitefield.  Doubtless  it  was 
this,  too,  that  made  it  impossible  that  his  printed 
words  should  convey  anything  like  the  impression 
which  they  exerted  when  spoken. 

"It  was  impossible  to  report  him  correctly, 
for  often  one  word,  with  a  significant  gesture  or 
peculiar  inflection  of  voice,  told  more  than  a  para- 
graph. .  .  .  He  was  never  at  his  best  until  helped 
to  forget  the  staid  requirements  of  stilted  cere- 
mony. How  his  Pegasus  lagged  until  spurred  by 
some  sympathetic  'Amen!'  Quickly  the  eye 
flashed,  and  the  soul  leaped.  When  a  whole  Con- 
ference of  'Aniens'  were  shouting  about  him,  it 
was  like  the  beating  of  the  storm  to  the  petrel. 
He  arose  to  loftier  heights,  and  his  soul  was  at 
home.  .  .  .  He  let  go  the  restraint  upon  himself 
and  let  loose  the  characteristic  qualities  of  his 
own  nature.  He  was  himself,  and  it  was  that 
frank  exposure  of  his  own  mind  and  heart  that 
put  his  hearers  en  rapport  with  him.  When  he 
ever  feared  to  do  this  in  the  presence  of  any  com- 
pany he  had  a  'hard  time' — and  so  had  others. 
His  friends  knew  that  if  they  wanted  the  best 
they  must  clear  away  the  frosts  and  give  summer- 
time to  his  soul,  and  then  they  might  expect  to 
hear  the  singing  birds  he  could  unloose."* 

*Dr.  C.  B.  Mitchell  In  the  Methodist  Review. 


118  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

As  might  be  expected  from  the  qualities  just 
delineated,  the  dominant  element  was  not  argu- 
mentative, nor  didactic,  but  hortatory  and  experi- 
mental. During  his  pastorates  Dr.  Joyce's  preach- 
ing covered  a  wider  range  of  subjects  than  after 
his  election  as  bishop.  In  the  Episcopacy  he  felt 
called  to  emphasize  evangelism  because  of  its  wide 
neglect  by  the  more  prominent  ministers  of  the 
Church.  Yet  in  the  pastorate,  whether  he  dis- 
coursed on  industrial,  patriotic,  or  evangelical 
themes,  he  made  practical  application  of  his 
themes  to  existing  conditions  about  him. 

It  is  not  known  to  general  Methodism,  as  it 
is  to  the  Methodists  of  Indiana,  that  his  style  of 
preaching  changed  very  considerably  after  he 
reached  middle  age,  both  as  to  subject  matter 
and  delivery. 

His  earlier  emphasis  was  the  literary  emphasis. 
While  he  had  revivals  in  his  charges  in  Indiana 
and  always  spoke  with  enthusiasm,  yet  his  min- 
istry was  not  especially  evangelistic.  As  a  pre- 
siding elder  he  was  more  insistent  on  his  preachers 
getting  and  reading  the  best  books,  than  he  was 
on  anything  else.  And  his  preaching  as  we  heard 
him  at  Greencastle  was  characterized  by  its  lit- 
erary and  sympathetic  elements  rather  than  by  its 
emphasis  on  religious  experience. 

It  was  not  until  Dr.  Joyce  had  been  in  Cin- 


As  a  Preacher.  119 


cinnati  a  year  or  so,  and  had  received  the  great 
spiritual  baptism  elsewhere  referred  to,  that  his 
preaching  became  so  pronouncedly  evangelistic  in 
subject  matter,  and  characterized  by  such  free- 
dom— we  may  say  abandon — and  unction  of  de- 
livery. 

During  all  the  later  years  of  his  life  Bishop 
Joyce's  preaching  was  marked  by  the  soul-passion 
of  the  prophet.  It  was  apparent  to  the  most  su- 
perficial that  he  was  intensely  in  earnest,  that  he 
longed  after  the  souls  of  his  hearers  as  a  father 
yearns  for  his  children.  Frequently  his  speech 
was  with  tears  and  choked  utterance.  Then  a 
luminous  smile  wTould  shine  through  his  tears  and 
irradiate  his  expressive  face,  until  he  seemed  al- 
most transfigured. 

There  are  men  who  have  great  power  over 
audiences  without  the  emotional  element  which  was 
an  indissoluble  part  of  Bishop  Joyce's  force. 
Henry  Drummond  always  spoke  quietly,  and 
S.  D.  Gordon  does.  And  no  one  familiar  with 
their  work  doubts  their  power  over  men.  But  if 
Bishop  Joyce  attempted  to  speak  quietly  and  with 
reserve,  he  was  a  David  in  Saul's  armor.  He  had 
to  "swing  out"  and  from  the  fullness  of  his  heart 
pour  forth  his  deepest  thoughts  and  emotions.  So 
in  his  later  years  he  never  tried  to  be  anything 
else  than  himself,  and  wTas  a  master  of  assemblies. 


120  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

But  that  which  gave  peculiar  power  to  Bishop 
Joyce's  utterance  was  the  divine  unction  that  so 
generally  attended  it.  As  Dr.  C.  B.  Mitchell 
said,  in  the  article  above  quoted,  "a  divine  unction 
glorified  all  his  other  natural  and  acquired  gifts 
of  speech,  and  compelled  even  ungodly  men  to 
testify  that  they  had  never  been  so  moved  by 
preaching.  It  was  this  quality  which  overflowed 
into  the  heart  of  his  interpreter  when  addressing 
vast  multitudes  of  foreigners  and  heathen,  and  set 
on  fire  hearts  hitherto  stolid  and  unmovable.  The 
unction  of  the  sermon  was  felt,  although  no  word 
was  understood.  When  speaking  through  a  sym- 
pathetic interpreter  his  soul  flashed  the  lightning, 
and  quickly  the  thunder-clap  was  heard  from  the 
lips  of  the  interpreter.  Soon  all  the  audience  was 
electric,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  made  quick  en- 
trance into  the  hearts  thus  strangely  opened." 

At  the  Conferences  presided  over  by  him  it 
was  the  rule  that  displays  of  unusual  power  ac- 
companied his  preaching.  Unusual,  that  is,  as 
compared  with  the  pulpit  discourse  of  preachers 
in  general.  Always  some  persons  expressed  a  pur- 
pose to  live  a  new  life,  and  the  preachers  and  the 
Church  members  were  quickened.  Frequently  a 
tide  of  conviction  and  feeling  was  aroused  that 
would  result  before  midnight  in  the  conversion  of  a 
score  or  more  souls.     At  Stroudsburg,  Pennsyl- 


As  a  Preacher.  121 


vania,  at  the  Philadelphia  Conference ;  at  Chicago, 
at  the  Rock  River  Conference;  at  Huntington,  at 
the  North  Indiana  Conference,  there  were  upwards 
of  one  hundred  conversions  on  Conference  Sun- 
day. Doubtless  there  were  other  Conferences 
where  the  work  was  equally  great.  But  of  these 
we  know. 

Audiences  were  deeply  affected  under  his 
preaching,  many  persons  weeping,  some  shouting 
aloud,  and  others  by  glowing  faces  testifying  the 
gladness  of  their  hearts. 

The  newspapers  all  over  the  country  unite  in 
ascribing  remarkable  immediate  results  to  his 
preaching.  Whether  at  camp-meetings  or  Con- 
ferences or  Church  celebrations  the  testimony  is 
all  to  the  effect  that  the  audiences  were  deeply 
moved.  After  making  a  due  deduction  for  the 
adulatory  tone  which  the  newspapers  generally 
adopt  in  commenting  on  the  utterances  of  notables, 
there  remains  a  large  and  reliable  residuum  of 
testimony  to  Bishop  Joyce's  power  over  popular 
assemblies.  More  frequently  than  to  any  other 
orator  do  they  compare  him  to  Bishop  Simpson. 

The  California  Christian  Advocate  says  of  his 
addresses  at  the  Southern  California  Conference 
in  1902: 

"The  addresses  and  sermons  of  Bishop  Joyce 
have  been  received  with  the  highest  satisfaction. 


1-2  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

The  people  have  been  moved  to  the  depths  of  their 
soul.  He  has  the  happy  faculty  of  combining 
his  argument  with  a  spirit  of  glowing  evangel- 
ism. Bishop  Joyce's  sermons  take  hold  upon  the 
conscience.  He  is  entirely  unconventional.  He 
does  not  preach  to  please  the  fancy  but  to  move 
the  heart.  He  is  tactful.  He  defends  the  Scrip- 
tures against  the  attacks  of  radical  criticism  by 
I  exalting  the  Scriptures  above  criticism.  His  plea 
for  a  supernatural  gospel,  in  his  address  to  the 
I  class  for  admission,  was  a  masterful  answer  to  the 
superficial  rationalism  of  our  day.  He  has  cap- 
tured all  hearts." 

At  the  Ohio  Conference  of  1900,  held  at  Galli- 
polis,  some  persons  who  had  heard  Bishop  Simp- 
son forty  years  before  on  a  like  occasion  were 
present,  and  heard  Bishop  Joyce  on  Conference 
Sunday,  according  to  a  report  published  in  the 
Western  Christian  Advocate.  These  declared  that 
Bishop  Joyce's  sermon  "was  not  inferior  to  that 
great  effort  in  any  respect.  One  of  the  elderly 
brethren  said  it  was  the  greatest  sermon  ever  de- 
livered before  the  Ohio  Conference  in  his  time. 
Should  the  Ohio  Conference  be  held  in  Galli- 
polis  forty  years  hence,  no  doubt  reference  will 
be  made  to  the  wonderful  sermon  of  Bishop 
Joyce." 

A  San  Francisco  daily,  commenting  on  the 
sermon  before  the  International  Epworth  League 


As  a  P readier.  123 


Convention  which  Bishop  Joyce  preached  in  that 
city,  says : 

"For  two  hours  Bishop  Joyce  kept  eight  thou- 
Bi  (1  people  in  their  seats,  quiet,  intent  on  his 
words.  For  two  hours  he  moved  his  hearers  at  his 
will.  He  chatted  with  them,  he  joked  with  them, 
lie  impelled  them,  he  moved  them  from  laughter 
to  tears,  and  from  tears  to  loud  'Aniens.'  " 

Bishop  Berry,  speaking  of  his  colleague's 
achievements  as  a  preacher,  says: 

"The  experience  which  stands  out  most  promi- 
nently in  my  memory  was  the  remarkable  Sunday 
of  the  Rock  River  Conference,  at  Dixon,  some 
eleven  or  twelve  years  ago.  The  bishop  was  then 
in  the  zenith  of  his  power.  The  earlier  part  of 
the  session  had  been  marked  by  singular  spirit- 
uality. The  tide  rose  steadily  day  by  day.  When 
Sunday  came,  expectation  was  on  tiptoe. 

"Bishop  Joyce's  fame  as  a  preacher  and  an 
evangelist  brought  to  Dixon  a  multitude  from  the 
region  round  about.  At  an  early  hour  on  Sunday 
morning  the  church  was  packed  with  eager  peo- 
ple. I  secured  a  seat  in  a  remote  part  of  the  gal- 
lery of  the  lecture-room,  and  was  glad  to  get 
that.  The  love-feast  was  a  love-feast  indeed. 
The  meeting  caught  fire  with  the  first  song.  Then 
song  followed  testimony  and  testimony  song,  while 
waves  of  emotion  swept  through  the  church. 
Bishop  Joyce  was  there,  drinking  in  the  tonic  of 
the  meeting.     Perhaps  that  would  not  be  a  good 


124  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

preparation  for  preaching  to  some  preachers,  but 
it  set  the  bishop's  brain  and  soul  on  fire,  and  made 
the  sermon  which  followed  a  possibility. 

"There  was  only  a  little  space  between  the 
close  of  the  love-feast  and  the  announcement  of 
the  text.  When  the  preacher  stood  up,  he  faced 
an  eager,  praying  throng.  'Launch  out  into  the 
deep'  was  the  text — a  text  upon  which  he  so  often 
discoursed.  I  doubt  whether  in  all  his  ministry 
he  ever  preached  with  mightier  effect.  For  a  few 
minutes  he  spoke  moderately,  as  was  his  wont. 
Then  his  words  came  quick  and  hot.  Soon  his 
utterance  was  volcanic.  Twice  did  he  reach  a  cli- 
max I  have  never  heard  him  equal.  In  dramatic 
vividness  and  emotional  power  they  were  tremen- 
dous. Preachers  and  people  were  swayed  as  the 
forest  is  swayed  by  the  storm.  We  were  melted 
and  aroused,  and  the  shouts  of  joy  did  not  seem 
at  all  out  of  place.  The  power  of  the  sermon  was 
best  shown  in  the  bishop's  exhortation  and  invi- 
tation. What  an  invitation  to  backsliders  and  un- 
repentant sinners!  How  it  gripped  the  conscience 
and  forced  decision!  No  one  was  surprised  that 
there  were  seekers  that  morning,  or  that  the  revival 
swept  with  irresistible  force  through  the  remain- 
ing services  of  the  day  and  on  up  to  midnight. 
I  found  my  way  to  the  altar  with  many  other 
eager  souls  at  night,  and  the  impression  of  that 
hour  has  never  been  effaced.  Inspired  by  the 
bishop's  burning  words,  ministers  went  out  into 
the  congregation  to  plead  with  the  unsaved,  and 
Christian  people,  with  tears  streaming  from  their 
eyes,  brought  their  unconverted  friends  to  Christ. 


As  a  Preacher.  125 


There  was  joy  among  the  angels  that  night.  The 
good  news  which  went  up  from  Dixon  set  the 
heavenly  bells  a-ringing." 

A  convincing  proof  of  his  pulpit  power  is 
the  fact  that  many  persons  who  had  been  preju- 
diced against  him  were  completely  captured  when 
they  heard  him. 

At  one  of  the  New  England  Conferences,  a 
lady  of  refinement  was  overheard  saying  on  Satur- 
day: "I  shall  never  like  Bishop  Joyce.  He  is  too 
noisy — a  typical  Westerner."  On  Sunday  the 
bishop  preached  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  had 
the  audiences  completely  in  his  power.  The  next 
morning  the  same  lady  was  heard  to  say  to  a 
friend:  "O,  did  you  hear  Bishop  Joyce  yesterday? 
I  never  heard  such  a  sermon  before.  I  wish  he 
had  never  stopped." 

At  the  opening  of  the  Philadelphia  Confer- 
ence at  Stroudsburg,  Pennsylvania,  in  1901,  Bishop 
Joyce  made  the  opening  prayer.  It  was  a  pe- 
tition of  great  solemnity  and  tenderness.  Immedi- 
ately following  was  to  have  been  the  address  of 

welcome  on  behalf  of  the  city  by  Judge  S ,  a 

prominent  lawyer.  When  he  was  introduced  he 
said  with  deep  feeling  that  he  had  come  prepared 
to  give  a  formal  address  of  welcome  to  the  Con- 
ference, but  that  the  prayer  of  the  bishop  had 
awakened  memories  and  longings  in  his  soul  that 


126  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

led  him,  instead  of  making  the  expected  address, 
to  ask  the  prayers  of  the  Conference  for  his  own 
soul.  His  remarks  created  a  profound  impression. 
The  Spirit  of  God  was  poured  out  upon  the  peo- 
ple, and  then  and  there  a  revival  broke  out  which 
resulted  not  only  in  the  blessing  of  this  prominent 
lawyer,  but  which  led  to  the  conversion  of  over 
one  hundred  people  by  the  following  Sunday 
night. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  fact  of  all  was 
that  he  should  have  had  such  power  in  preaching 
through  interpreters.  In  Korea  and  China  he 
spent  two  years.  All  his  preaching  to  the  natives 
was  done  through  interpreters.  Yet  hundreds 
were  converted  under  his  preaching.  We  have 
understood  that  nothing  so  much  interested  his 
colleagues  of  the  Board  of  Bishops,  in  the  report 
which  he  made  to  them  on  his  return,  as  this  fact. 
One  of  their  number  reports  that  body  of  devout 
men  as  profoundly  moved  by  Bishop  Joyce's  de- 
scription of  the  conversions  which  thus  took  place. 

As  for  Bishop  Joyce  himself  in  making  the 
report,  the  tears  poured  down  his  cheeks  as  he 
cried:  "O  brethren!  Let  us  give  the  Holy  Ghost 
a  chance!"  That  is,  trust  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
effect  immediate  results  in  the  conversion  of  souls. 

When  asked  by  an  eminent  Christian  worker 


As  a  Preacher.  127 


what  he  considered  the  secret  of  his  power  over 
audiences,  he  replied:  "I  have  learned  the  secret 
of  absolute  dependence  on  the  Holy  Spirit." 

From  all  we  know  of  the  bishop's  methods  it 
is  fair  to  infer  that  he  meant  that  he  prepared  to 
preach  as  though  there  were  no  God,  and  then  he 
trusted  God  as  if  he  had  not  prepared  at  all. 

The  greatest  result  of  Bishop  Joyce's  preach- 
ing was  not  seen  at  the  Conferences  where  he 
preached,  but  at  the  Conferences  that  followed. 
The  new  faith  and  courage  that  his  words  in- 
spired in  the  preachers  was  the  most  significant 
and  important  result  of  his  Conference  preaching. 
To  send  fifty  or  a  hundred  baffled  and  discour- 
aged men  back  to  their  work  with  a  new  sense 
of  their  mission  and  with  a  new  grip  on  the  re- 
alities of  Christianity  is  a  tremendous  achieve- 
ment. Yet  that  is  exactly  the  result  of  Bishop 
Joyce's  ministry  at  every  Annual  Conference  he 
held.  He  may  not  have  been  a  great  preacher 
according  to  the  coldly  classical  standards  of  aca- 
demic critics.  But  if  the  preaching  described  in 
the  Book  of  Acts  was  great  preaching,  then  Bishop 
Joyce's  preaching  was  great. 

When  some  leaders  of  the  Church  speak  at 
our  Conferences  we  preachers  go  away  praising 
the  eloquence  of  the  speaker,  or  otherwise.     When 


128  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

others  speak  we  go  away  asking  God  to  make  us 
truer  men,  and  loving  Jesus  Christ  with  a  new 
passion  of  devotion.  And  Bishop  Joyce  always 
had  this  effect  upon  preachers.  They  went  away 
saying,  not  "What  an  orator  is  Demosthenes !" 
but  "Lead  us  against  Philip!" 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Bishop  Joyce  and  Foreign  Missions. 

A  METHODIST  bishop  has  extraordinary 
opportunities  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  missionary  work  of  the  Church.  It  is 
doubtful  if  any  other  class  of  men  comes  into 
contact  with  so  many  different  nationalities,  and 
is  able  to  judge  from  close  observation  of  the 
conditions  existing  in  the  various  countries  of  the 
earth.  Our  State  Department  at  Washington 
might  do  well  to  keep  this  fact  in  mind. 

In  1892  Bishop  Joyce  presided  over  the  five 
Conferences  in  Europe.  In  1894  he  had  epis- 
copal supervision  of  our  work  in  Mexico,  involv- 
ing a  stay  of  some  length  there.  In  1896  he  had 
charge  of  our  Conferences  in  Japan,  China,  and 
Korea.  He  spent  two  years  in  these  countries. 
He  presided  twice  over  each  of  the  Conferences 
and  Missions  in  those  three  countries,  returning  to 
the  United  States  in  1898  by  way  of  India  and 
Malaysia.  In  1903,  and  again  in  1904,  he  had 
supervision  of  our  work  in  South  America,  making 
two  episcopal  tours  through  that  continent. 
9  129 


130  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

On  his  return  from  the  Orient  he  repeatedly 
declared  that  if  he  were  a  young  man  he  would 
east  his  lot  as  a  Christian  worker  among  China's 
millions.  The  opportunity  there  presented  for 
great  results  strongly  appealed  to  him. 

This  love  of  missions  was  strong  in  him  when 
he  was  a  pastor.  It  became  a  passion  with  him 
as  his  episcopal  visits  to  the  mission  fields  brought 
to  him  a  wider  understanding  of  the  needs  and 
opportunities  of  those  fields. 

When  he  was  a  pastor  in  Lafayette,  Indiana, 
his  interest  in  missions  won  him  the  affectionate 
admiration  of  the  women  of  the  Woman's  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  in  Indiana.  A  visiting  speaker, 
Mrs.  Jennie  Fowler  Willing,  of  Chicago,  describes 
in  the  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate  a  scene  in 
which  his  interest  in  missions  showed  itself,  as 
follows : 

"The  Indiana  State  Woman's  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  was  in  session  in  his  Church  in 
Lafayette.  We  held  our  anniversary  on  Sunday 
evening.  All  the  Methodist  Churches  in  the  city 
closed  their  services  to  come  and  bid  the  women 
God-speed  in  their  work.  Just  before  starting  for 
the  Church  that  evening  I  said  to  Miss  Sample, 
the  State  corresponding  secretary,  'Katie,  we 
ought  to  get  a  thousand  dollars  from  that  congre- 
gation to-night.  Dare  we  ask  the  Lord  to  make 
them  give  it?' 

"  'Indeed  we  dare,'  was  the  bright  reply.  'He 
can  do  it  easily  enough.' 


Bishop  Joyce  and  Foreign  Missions.       131 

"So  hand  in  hand  we  went  into  the  Presence 
and  asked  our  Father  for  the  thousand  dollars. 
When  we  met  Dr.  Joyce  in  his  study  I  told  him 
what  we  had  asked  for. 

"  'I  'm  as  sorry  as  I  can  be,'  he  replied,  'but 
you  can't  get  any  money  to-night.  The  other 
pastors  said  they  'd  give  up  their  services  on  con- 
dition that  no  money  was  asked  for.' 

"  'Never  mind,  Katie,'  I  whispered  aside  to 
my  friend,  'we  asked  for  a  thousand  dollars.  Let 
us  hold  steady  for  it.' 

"So  strong  was  her  faith,  and  so  warm  her 
zeal  for  the  work,  that  I  think  if  we  had  prayed 
as  Edward  Payson  said  he  dared  do — asking  the 
Lord  for  a  couple  of  planets  for  his  private  ac- 
commodation— she  would  have  looked  for  them  to 
come  sailing  along. 

"I  spoke  first,  and  while  Miss  Sample  was 
talking,  Dr.  Joyce  leaned  over  toward  me  behind 
her  and  whispered,  'We  '11  make  an  appeal  for 
help,  Official  Board  or  no  Official  Board;  and 
you  've  got  to  do  it.' 

"  'O,  no,  Doctor,  I  can't.  I  never  did  such  a 
thing  in  my  life.  I  have  neither  the  courage  nor 
the  skill.  And  besides,  if  we  offend  your  Official 
Board  we  '11  lose  heavily  in  the  long  run.' 

"He  made  no  reply,  but  when  Miss  Sample  had 
finished  her  address  he  rose  and  said  in  substance, 
'Mrs.  Willing  has  a  matter  to  present  to  winch  I 
know  you  will  gladly  respond.' 

"There  I  was.  Retreat  was  impossible,  so 
with  a  sharp,  quick  telegram  to  the  skies  for  help 
I  went  at  it,  explaining  the  conditions  of  our 
'sacrifice  life  memberships,'  and  asking  the  people 


132  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

to  take  them.  In  a  few  minutes  twenty  were 
pledged.  That  would  bring  us  in  four  hundred 
dollars,  for  they  were  a  class  of  people  who  do  not 
easily  forget  their  promises.  By  that  time  we 
were  quite  as  free  from  care  about  Official  Boards, 
inexperience,  and  awkwardness  as  we  were  about 
where  the  remaining  six  hundred  was  to  come  from. 

"The  next  morning  Dr.  Joyce  came  into  our 
convention,  and  when  opportunity  was  given  he 
said:  'I  have  a  serious  accusation  to  bring  against 
Mrs.  Willing.  She  took  some  life  memberships 
last  evening  and  stopped  just  when  her  work  had 
fairly  begun.  That  's  no  way  to  do  with  a  con- 
gregation in  the  condition  that  that  one  was  in.' 

"  'Well,  Doctor,'  I  replied,  'I  plead  guiHy,  and 
I  move  that  you  be  requested  to  finish  the  work 
in  which  I  failed.' 

"There  was  plenty  of  assenting  applause,  and 
he  began  at  once.  Two  or  three  times  we  went  on 
our  knees  to  thank  God  for  what  He  had  done  for 
us,  and  at  each  time  except  the  last  as  soon  as  we 
were  quiet  from  our  crying  for  joy  he  said, 
'That 's  all  right.  You  can't  be  too  thankful  to 
the  Lord ;  but  I  'm  not  through  yet.' 

"At  the  end  of  an  hour  of  such  enthusiasm 
as  burned  into  the  hearts  of  those  Indiana  women 
the  conviction  that  heathen  women  must  be  saved, 
at  no  matter  what  cost  to  us,  we  found  that  we  had 
the  thousand  dollars  pledged,  with  a  good  sum 
thrown  in  for  shrinkage,  beside  the  support  of  sev- 
eral orphans. 

"That  was  a  great  deal  of  money  for  those 
days,  and  we  all  went  home  from  that  mount  of 


Bishop  Joyce  and  Foreign  Missions.       133 

blessing,  feeling  that  it  was  a  love  gift  from  Him 
who  is  the  'same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever.'  " 

In  his  episcopal  supervision  of  the  foreign 
work  Bishop  Joyce  showed  the  same  painstaking 
care  and  unflagging  energy  that  had  character- 
ized him  in  the  pastorate.  Every  detail  of  the 
work,  the  theological  schools,  the  Book  Concerns, 
the  Church  papers,  the  Epworth  Leagues,  the 
Sunday-schools,  all  these  as  well  as  the  stationing 
of  preachers  and  the  reports  from  the  Churches, 
received  the  bishop's  careful  scrutiny.  Imagine 
him,  for  instance,  having  a  few  days  to  spare 
before  meeting  the  Norway  Conference,  taking  a 
trip  up  the  coast  for  a  hundred  miles  to  visit 
every  town  that  had  a  Methodist  Church! 

In  all  his  foreign  Conferences,  as  well  as  in 
those  at  home,  he  started  the  revival  fire.  His  first 
Missionary  Conference  was  at  Lausanne,  Switzer- 
land. At  the  close  of  his  sermon  before  that  Con- 
ference Bishop  Joyce  did  not  give  an  invitation 
to  seekers.  This  was  out  of  deference  to  the  judg- 
ment of  colleagues  in  the  Episcopal  Board,  who 
had  told  him  that  he  could  not  secure  immediate 
results  in  preaching  through  an  interpreter.  At 
the  close  of  his  sermon,  however,  a  Swiss  stopped 
him  in  the  aisle  and  said,  "Please  tell  me  how  to 
be  saved."  Gladly  Bishop  Joyce  and  the  pastor 
tarried  behind  with  the  inquirer,  and  the  man  was 


134  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

happily  converted.  This  incident  Bishop  Joyce 
took  as  God's  rebuke  to  him  for  his  lack  of  faith, 
and  thereafter  he  made  his  usual  appeal  for  im- 
mediate decision. 

At  Frank fort-on-the-Main,  in  Germany,  and 
at  Svendborg,  Denmark,  there  were  a  number  of 
conversions.  A  score  or  more  were  converted  at 
Christiania  at  the  session  of  the  Conference  there. 
At  Frederickschald,  Sweden,  he  held  three  serv- 
ices, and  many  conversions  resulted.  At  Goten- 
berg,  Sweden,  fifty  people  came  forward  seeking 
pardon  at  the  night  service,  at  the  session  of  the 
Sweden  Conference.  At  Stockholm,  where  he  or- 
ganized and  set  off  from  the  Norway  Conference 
the  new  Finland-St.  Petersburg  Mission,  sixty-five 
persons  sought  Christ  on  Conference  Sunday. 
And  so  he  spread  the  flame  through  Italy  and 
Switzerland. 

The  secretary  of  the  Conference  in  Germany 
wrote  of  the  1892  session  at  Frankfort: 

"The  proceedings  were  marked  by  a  kind  and 
brotherly  spirit  that  prevailed  until  the  close  of 
the  session.  I  am  sure  that  the  beloved  president 
of  the  Conference  has  done  very  much  to  keep  all 
brethren  in  a  good  temper,  and  it  was  by  no  means 
an  act  of  formality  when  the  Conference  in  a 
series  of  resolutions  expressed  its  heartiest  thanks 
to  Bishop  Joyce  for  his  wise  and  fatherly  counsels, 
his  careful  direction  of  the  business  of  the  Con- 


Bishop  Joyce  and  Foreign  Missions.      135 

ference,  his  heart-stirring  addresses,  his  inspiring 
sermon,  and  his  blessed  co-operation  in  the  divine 
services,  and  that  it  was  its  desire  to  see  him  again 
as  president  of  the  Conference  in  not  too  distant 
a  future.     The  Bishop  has  won  all  hearts." 

It  was  the  same  in  the  more  northerly  Confer- 
ences of  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Denmark.  It  is 
recorded:  "These  were  all  scenes  of  revival  power 
under  the  earnest  ministrations  of  the  good  bishop, 
who  will  be  held  in  loving  remembrance  throughout 
Scandinavia." 

And  even  in  Bulgaria,  the  "burnt  district"  of 
Christendom,  where  forty  accessions  in  a  year  for 
the  entire  mission  field  was  the  banner  achieve- 
ment up  to  the  time  of  his  visit,  twelve  persons 
were  converted  under  his  preaching  on  Conference 
Sunday,  most  of  them  being  young  men. 

On  visiting  Bulgaria  he  had  to  stay  in  quaran- 
tine for  a  short  time.  His  description  of  meeting 
the  brethren  in  that  strange  land  reminds  us  of  St. 
Paul's  meeting  the  brethren  from  Rome  at  the 
"Three  Taverns:" 

"To  go  from  Stockholm  to  Bulgaria,  by  the 
only  route  left  open  to  us,  and  comparatively  free 
from  quarantine  necessitated  a  journey  of  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-seven  miles. 
When  we  reached  Vienna,  we  found  that  low 
water  and  prospective  quarantine  forbade  our 
going  to  Sistov  by  steamer,  on  the  Danube,  so 


136  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

we  went  on  the  'Orient  Express,5  but  when  we 
reached  Rustchuk  we  found  ourselves  in  quaran- 
tine to  stay  twenty-four  hours.  But  the  time 
passed,  and  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning  we 
took  steamer  for  a  forty-mile  ride  up  the  Danube 
to  Sistov,  which  we  reached  in  good  season,  and 
opened  the  Conference  on  time. 

"I  think  the  presence  and  cheerful  words  of 
friends  were  never  more  appreciated,  or  did  us 
more  good,  than  did  the  coming  to  us  of  Rev. 
George  S.  Davis,  our  superintendent  in  Bulgaria, 
and  Rev.  T.  Constantine,  our  pastor  at  Rust- 
chuk, about  the  middle  of  the  day  of  our  stay  in 
quarantine.  We  had  never  met  before,  and  ex- 
cept in  a  very  general  way  we  were  strangers  to 
each  other.  But  we  were  Methodist  preachers, 
and  there  was  a  heart  relation  between  us ;  and 
as  soon  as  they  heard  that  we  were  in  the  quaran- 
tine station  they  came  to  us  at  once — that  is,  they 
came  as  near  as  they  were  allowed  to  approach, 
which  was  within  one  hundred  feet  of  the  place 
where  we  were  staying — and  there  we  stood  that 
distance  apart  and  talked.  Of  course,  we  could 
not  shake  hands,  except  in  our  hearts,  and  that 
we  did  most  heartily,  I  assure  you.  How  their 
words  cheered  us,  helped  us!  They  brought  us 
a  good  dinner — had  to  put  it  on  the  ground,  one 
hundred  feet  away — the  guard  brought  it  to  us, 
then  in  the  shade  of  the  building  where  we  were 
staying,  on  a  little  table  which  the  guard  had 
furnished  my  wife  spread  out  that  dinner.  A 
physician  from  The  Hague,  Holland,  who  was  also 
brought  into  quarantine  with  us,  we  asked  to  share 
our   dinner  with  us.      We   three   gathered   about 


Bishop  Joyce  and  Foreign  Missions.       137 

the  little  table;  we  bowed  our  heads,  and  with  full 
hearts  thanked  God  for  food,  for  friends,  and  for 
the  heart-ties  of  Methodist  preachers.  We  found 
this  physician  to  be  an  earnest  Christian,  a  well 
educated  and  thorough  gentleman;  and  his  genial 
and  happy  spirit  helped  us  greatly  in  passing 
through  the  twenty-four  hours  of  quarantine.  We 
shall  never  forget  him." 

"A  man  earnestly  seeking  Christ  traveled  over 
one  hundred  miles  to  hear  Bishop  Joyce  preach  at 
the  session  of  the  Bulgaria  Mission.  He  was  hap- 
pily converted,  and  in  his  gratitude  sincerely  pro- 
posed that  when  the  bishop  reached  his  city  he 
would  draw  him  through  the  streets  with  six  of 
the  large  buffaloes  found  there.  The  matter  was 
compromised  by  the  bishop  taking  supper  with 
him,  and  at  the  table  with  the  bishop  was  the 
presiding  elder  and  both  the  old  and  the  new  pas- 
tor, and  numerous  other  friends." 

Bishop  Joyce  made  the  episcopal  visitation  to 
Mexico,  and  presided  at  the  Annual  Conference 
in  January,  1895.  Dr.  John  W.  Butler  writes 
that  the  bishop  gave  them  the  motto,  "A  thou- 
sand souls  for  Christ  in  1895."  "The  workers  in 
this  city  caught  the  inspiration,  and  have  done 
the  best  work  of  their  lives  this  year.  Nine  hun- 
dred and  eight  accessions  in  ten  months  is  a  record 
unheard  of  before  in  any  one  place  in  the  Mis- 
sion." 

This  impulse  to  soul-winning,  which  he  com- 
municated to  the   preachers   everywhere  he   went, 


138  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

was  the  most  valuable  feature  of  his  valuable  work. 
In  it  he  most  resembled  his  Master,  who  said:  "I 
have  sent  you  forth  to  reap  .  .  .  that  he  that 
soweth  and  he  that  reapeth  may  rejoice  together." 

During  his  two  years  of  supervision  in  China 
Bishop  Joyce  visited  every  part  of  the  field,  pene- 
trating into  the  interior  of  China  further  than 
any  other  bishop  had  ever  done,  and  holding  the 
West  China  Mission  Conference.  To  reach 
Chentu,  in  West  China,  the  furthest  point  reached 
by  him,  he  went  by  steamer  from  Shanghai  one 
thousand  miles  up  the  river,  then  five  hundred  miles 
further  by  house  boat,  and  the  last  three  hundred 
miles  by  chair,  carried  by  coolies.  Mrs.  Joyce 
accompanied  him  all  the  way  except  the  last  three 
hundred  miles.  She  staid  with  the  missionaries 
at  Chungking,  while  he  made  the  chair  trip  on 
to  Chentu. 

In  China  many  missionaries  said  repeatedly 
to  Bishop  Joyce  that  he  could  not  expect  immedi- 
ate results  in  preaching  such  as  could  be  secured 
in  preaching  to  audiences  reared  in  Christian  lands. 
J  They  said  it  required  years  of  instruction  before 
the  people  could  understand  the  plan  of  salvation. 
But  Bishop  Joyce  believed  that  immediate  results 
could  be  secured  even  in  preaching  to  the  raw 
pagans,  and  his  sermons  usually  were  planned  with 
the  view  of  securing  the  immediate  conversion  of 


Bishop  Joyce  and  Foreign  Missions.      139 

his  hearers.  The  results  abundantly  justified  his 
view,  for  everywhere  pagans  were  converted  under 
his  preaching.  This  unprecedented  fact  pro- 
foundly moved  his  colleagues  of  the  Board  of 
Bishops,  when  reported  to  them  on  Bishop  Joyce's 
return.  And  it  was  this  fact — the  willingness 
of  the  Divine  Spirit  to  seal  the  preaching  of  the 
Word  to  the  immediate  conversion  of  pagans,  that 
led  Bishop  Joyce,  in  concluding  his  report  to  his 
colleagues,  to  cry  out  with  streaming  eyes,  "O 
brethren!  let  us  give  the  Holy  Ghost  a  chance!" 
In  the  Christian  Advocate  the  Rev.  Don  W. 
Nichols  wrote  from  Kiukiang,  China,  as  follows: 

"The  recent  session  of  our  Conference  was  the 
most  blessed  in  the  history  of  the  Mission.  The 
visitation  of  Bishop  Joyce  has  been  a  great  bless- 
ing to  every  member  of  the  Mission.  It  was  a  re- 
vival Conference  in  every  sense  of  the  word  from 
beginning  to  end.  The  power  and  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  were  graciously  manifested.  The 
Bible  readings  and  addresses  of  the  bishop  were 
a  source  of  great  profit  to  every  one.  Sunday  was 
a  day  never  to  be  forgotten  by  those  present.  It 
was  a  great  day  in  the  Israel  of  God  in  Central 
China.  The  love-feast  began  at  nine  o'clock,  con- 
ducted by  C.  F.  Kupf er ;  sixty  people  gave  ringing 
testimonies  to  the  power  of  Jesus  to  save.  These 
testimonies  were  from  the  old  man  of  seventy-five 
down  to  the  little  girl  of  ten  years.  The  Bishop's 
morning  sermon  through  an  interpreter  was  one 


140  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

full  of  blessing  and  comfort  to  all.  A  wave  of 
salvation  moved  every  heart;  some  were  moved  to 
tears  of  joy,  while  others  shouted,  'Hallelujah!' 
Fully  a  dozen  persons  presented  themselves  at  the 
altar  to  seek  their  souls'  salvation.  At  2.30  an 
Epworth  League  rally  was  held,  the  bishop  and 
members  of  the  Mission  delivering  addresses;  at 
4.30  the  bishop  preached  to  the  foreign  com- 
munity a  sermon  that  made  a  profound  impres- 
sion on  the  minds  of  all  present.  At  7.30  the 
writer  preached  and  conducted  a  revival  service. 
Some  thirty  persons  came  to  the  altar — the  mourn- 
ers'-bench — to  seek  salvation.  The  Holy  Ghost 
came  upon  every  believing  heart.  The  voice  of 
prayer  could  be  heard  all  over  the  house,  three 
and  four  praying  at  the  same  time,  while  souls 
were  being  converted  and  praising  God.  On  Mon- 
day night  the  writer  conducted  another  revival 
service.  Again  the  altar  was  crowded  with  seek- 
ers; men,  women,  and  children  were  converted,  and 
more  than  thirty  united  with  the  Church.  The 
battle  cry  is,  'A  thousand  souls  for  Christ  in  Cen- 
tral China  during  this  Conference  3rear.'  The 
visitation  of  Bishop  Joyce  has  given  the  greatest 
satisfaction,  and  we  rejoice  that  he  is  to  be  with 
us  again  next  year.  We  are  sure  that  the  results 
will  prove  the  wisdom  of  the  plan  of  having  the 
bishop  remain  two  consecutive  years  in  charge  of 
the  same  field." 

The  Rev.  J.  J.  Banbury  wrote  from  Kiukiang, 
China : 

"Bishop  Joyce's  presence  among  us  was  truly 
a  benediction.      Our  meeting  was   marked  by   an 


Bishop  Joyce  and  Foreign  Missions.      141 

old-fashioned  revival  spirit,  and  some  twenty  of 
the  natives  have  professed  conversion.  At  the  reg- 
ular prayer-meeting  last  evening  about  forty  per- 
sons testified  to  the  power  of  Christ  to  save  and 
sanctify.  It  was  a  glorious  and  blessed  sight.  We 
believe  that  the  time  for  the  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  much  power  has  arrived,  and  are 
expecting  to  embrace  the  opportunity  and  bring 
many  to  Christ." 

A  presiding  elder  wrote  concerning  the  Hing- 
hua  Conference: 

"Bishop  Joyce  made  every  session  a  season  of 
spiritual  blessing  and  profitable  instruction,  as  well 
as  of  inspiration.  The  Sabbath  will  indeed  live  in 
history.  The  power  of  God  came  down  upon 
preacher  and  people." 

The  bishop  himself  said: 

"Sunday,  November  22d,  at  Foochow,  and  Sun- 
day, November  29th,  at  Hinghua,  were  two  of 
the  most  wonderful  Sundays  I  have  ever  had  in 
all  my  life.  I  have  seen  some  gracious  and  marvel- 
ous results  on  Conference  Sundays,  but  these  two 
Sundays  went  beyond  anything  I  have  ever  seen 
anywhere.  The  blessed,  old-fashioned  Gospel, 
under  the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  does  pro- 
duce old-fashioned  revivals,  old-fashioned  conver- 
sions, and  old-fashioned  victories." 

In  a  letter  to  Dr.  R.  J.  Cooke,  an  intimate 
friend,  Bishop  Joyce  writes: 

"It  is  a  sight  never  to  be  forgotten  and  one 
that   fills   the  soui   with  joy  to   see  heathen  men 


142  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

and  women  come  forward  and  kneel  down  to  be 
prayed  for,  and  give  themselves  to  Christ  as  the 
Savior  of  their  souls;  and  then  to  see  how  the 
native  Christians  get  down  by  them  and  instruct 
them,  and  tell  them  how  to  believe,  that  they  may 
receive  the  pardon  of  their  sins  and  the  witness 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  a  great  joy  to  know — 
to  see  the  demonstration  of  it  before  your  own 
eyes — that  the  dear  old  Gospel  preached  in  the 
old-fashioned  way  will  be  attended  by  the  Holy 
Spirit's  blessed  influence  all  around,  and  all  over 
this  world.  .  .  .  Paul  was  right.  'It  is  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation'  in  all  parts  of  the  world 
and  among  all  people." 

While  on  board  a  vessel  in  Foochow  Harbor 
Bishop  Joyce  fell  through  a  hatchway  and  was 
severely  injured.  For  some  days  he  was  doubtful 
as  to  whether  he  would  recover.  To  his  wife  he 
said:  "Nothing  would  suit  me  better  than  to  die 
here  and  be  buried  by  the  side  of  Bishop  Wiley." 
Bishop  Wiley,  one  of  his  dearest  friends,  died  at 
Foochow  in  1884,  and  was  buried  in  the  English 
cemetery  in  Foochow.  But  Bishop  Joyce  was  not 
to  finish  his  life  work  in  Asia,  but  in  his  own  land. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  among  the  many 
resolutions  of  thanks  and  appreciation  passed  by 
the  Conferences  everywhere  over  which  he  pre- 
sided, Bishop  Joyce  seems  to  have  cherished  with 
peculiar  tenderness  the  many  tributes  from  the 
Conferences  in  foreign  lands. 


Bishop  Joyce  and  Foreign  Missions.       1^3 

After  their  return  from  China  Bishop  and  Mrs. 
Joyce  had  in  their  home  several  years  two  Chinese 
girls  who  have  prepared  themselves  for  work 
among  their  own  people  under  their  watchful  and 
loving  care.  It  is  not  many  people  who  are  so 
profoundly  interested  in  the  extension  of  the  Re- 
deemer's kingdom  as  that  they  will  allow  the  in- 
vasion of  their  home  for  years  together  by  stran- 
gers to  further  that  end.  Yet  this  Bishop  and 
Mrs.  Joyce  did.  It  speaks  volumes  not  only  for 
his  own,  but  his  companion's  devotion  to  the  cause 
of  missions. 

Mrs.  Annie  E.  Smiley  wrote  in  the  Zion's 
Herald  of  a  little  incident  at  the  International 
Ep worth  League  Convention  at  Detroit  in  1903, 
as  follows: 

"In  reading  Bishop  Berry's  tribute  to  Bishop 
Joyce  in  a  recent  number  of  the  Epworth  Herald, 
it  recalled  an  utterance  of  Bishop  Joyce  at  a 
missionary  rally  at  the  Detroit  Epworth  League 
Convention  two  years  ago. 

"A  young  man  who  was  going  out  as  a  foreign 
missionary  had  been  introduced  to  the  convention, 
and  had  made  a  few  remarks.  Following  him  came 
his  father,  a  Methodist  preacher,  who  said  a  few 
brave  words  in  a  voice  which  trembled.  Every 
heart  was  moved,  and  when  Bishop  Joyce,  who 
was  presiding  at  the  meeting,  arose  there  was  per- 
fect silence  in  the  crowded  room.  'I  want  to  say,' 
Bishop  Joyce  began,  'that  if  I  was  as  young  as 


144:  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

our  brother  here,  and  if  I  was  of  the  same  mind 
that  I  am  this  morning,  not  three  days  would  pass 
before  I  offered  myself  to  go  as  a  foreign  mis- 
sionary.' Then,  after  a  pause,  he  said  with  great 
feeling:  'When  the  waking  angel  knocks  at  the 
door  of  my  dusty  bedchamber,  what  does  it  matter 
whether  I  am  lying  in  this  country,  or  beside 
Bishop  Wiley  in  China?' 

"A  quick  rush  of  tears  blotted  out  the  in- 
spired face  of  our  beloved  Bishop  from  my  eyes, 
but  I  shall  always  remember  him  as  he  stood  and 
uttered  these  words  which  expressed  his  heart- 
yearning  for  the  salvation  of  the  whole  wide 
world." 

In  his  first  visit  to  South  America,  for  which 
he  sailed  late  in  1902,  Bishop  Joyce  began  his 
work  on  the  west  coast.  He  visited  our  work  in 
Chile,  preaching  and  visiting  the  most  important 
centers  of  our  mission  work,  and  holding  the  Andes 
Conference.  From  Santiago,  Chile,  he  proceeded 
by  train  and  stage  over  the  Andes  Mountains  to 
Mendoza,  and  to  Buenos  Ayres  in  Argentina.  De- 
scribing this  trip  Bishop  Joyce  wrote: 

"We  left  Santiago  by  train  late  in  the  after- 
noon, and  at  ten  o'clock  that  night  we  reached 
Los  Andes,  a  town  a  little  way  up  the  mountain. 
We  stayed  there  that  night,  leaving  next  morning 
early,  on  a  narrow  gauge  road,  for  a  run  of  eight- 
een miles  to  Saltos,  which  is  as  far  up  the  mountain 
as  the  road  is  yet  finished  on  the  Chilean  side. 


Bishop  Joyce  and  Foreign  Missions.      145 

"Here  the  company  furnishes  coaches  for  the 
passengers,  or  horses  and  mules  for  those  who  pre- 
fer that  sort  of  transportation  over  the  mountains. 
All  the  heavy  baggage  is  strapped  to  the  backs 
of  mules.  Sixty-six  people  were  to  be  taken  across 
the  range,  and  only  ten  of  the  entire  number  pre- 
ferred the  horseback  transportation,  all  the  rest 
chose  the  coaches,  myself  and  wife  among  the  num- 
ber. The  smaller  coaches  carry  four  persons  each, 
the  larger  ones  six  each.  There  are  four  horses  to 
each  coach,  hitched  abreast.  Such  driving  as  those 
Chilean  fellows  do,  we  have  not  found  anywhere 
else  in  the  world.  Hooting,  yelling,  slashing, 
whipping,  away  they  go.  A  hard  place  in  the 
road  is  reached — the  horses  get  up  a  strike,  balk, 
won't  go — men  get  out,  drivers  slash  and  yell, 
men  lift  and  push  at  the  wheels.  Suddenly  the 
horses  dash  away  on  the  double  quick,  and  we  get 
back  into  the  coach  at  pretty  much  the  same  rate 
of  speed. 

"From  Saltos,  on  the  Chilean  side  of  the  moun- 
tain, to  Los  Cuevas  on  the  Argentine  side,  the 
distance  is  forty  miles.  This  is  the  gap  between 
the  two  points  of  the  railroad — and  which  we  hope 
will  be  filled  up  by  the  completed  road  when  we 
come  this  way  again  a  year  from  this  time.  We 
left  Saltos  at  8.30  in  the  morning,  and  reached 
Juncal  at  11.30,  where  we  got  breakfast.  After 
this,  with  fresh  horses  and  a  new  driver  we  began 
the  more  decided  ascent  of  the  mountain,  and  under 
the  pressing  methods  of  the  drivers,  and  taking 
advantage  of  every  little  bit  of  level  road,  we 
climbed  toward  the  summit  of  the  great  range. 
The  road  is  like  a  huge  stairway,  only  we  do  not 
10 


146  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

climb  by  stepping  from  one  step  to  the  other — we 
travel  the  steps  lengthwise,  at  each  end  there  is  a 
curve  around  which  the  horses  are  driven — many 
times  if  there  is  a  half  a  chance,  the  driver  makes 
the  curve  on  a  good  sweeping  gallop.  Every 
curve  lifts  us  a  little  higher  up  the  mountain. 
Every  little  while  we  change  horses.  Late  in  the 
afternoon  we  reach  the  great  summit,  and  find 
we  are  at  an  elevation  of  twelve  thousand  seven 
hundred  feet.  The  baggage  train  crosses  at  a 
point  not  far  from  thirteen  thousand  five  hundred 
feet.  On  the  summit  we  rest  awhile,  and  feast  our 
eyes  and  hearts  on  the  indescribable  beauty,  maj- 
esty, and  glory  of  this  never  to  be  forgotten  scene, 
with  the  words  upon  our  lips  and  the  feeling  in 
our  souls, 

"'Great  and  marvelous   are  the  works  of  the  infinite 
and  eternal  God  V 

"We  begin  the  descent  on  the  Argentine  side 
of  the  great  mountain.  We  have  the  sensations 
of  unusual  exultation — the  horse  and  drivers  seem 
to  share  the  great  joy  with  us,  and  away  we  go 
down  old  Andes'  winding  way,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes we  have  dropped  three  thousand  feet  down 
the  great  mountain  side.  On  we  go  until,  near 
six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  we  reach  Los  Cuevas, 
the  mountain  town  to  which  on  the  Argentine  side 
the  new  railroad  is  finished.  Between  8.30  in  the 
morning  and  six  in  the  evening  we  have  traveled 
forty  miles  in  these  mountain  coaches. 

"We  are  glad  to  see  the  railway  train,  we  are 
soon  aboard  and  on  our  way  of  a  few  miles  run 
to  Puerto  del  Inca,  where  we  spend  the  night  in 


Bishop  Joyce  and  Foreign  Missions.      147 

a  comfortable  hotel.  Next  Monday  at  seven  we 
leave  for  Mendoza.  Soon  after  leaving  Inca  we 
have  the  wonderful  good  fortune  to  get  a  good 
view  of  the  highest  peak  in  the  Andes  range,  known 
as  the  Aconcaqua.  When  Humboldt  visited  South 
America  he  supposed  he  had  settled  it  that  Chim- 
borazo  was  the  highest  point  in  the  Andes  range, 
but  it  is  now  known  that  in  height  Aconcaqua  sur- 
passes Chimborazo. 

"We  reach  Mendoza  at  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, and  friends  meet  us  at  the  depot.  We  re- 
main in  this  city  a  few  days  to  inspect  the  work  of 
the  Church  and  to  preach  for  the  English  and 
Spanish  congregations.  This  is  the  great  grape 
region  of  all  this  country,  and  the  fruit  is  almost 
as  delicious  in  taste  as  the  grapes  that  grow  on 
the  slopes  of  Vesuvius. 

"The  Methodist  Conference  met  in  the  city 
of  Rosario,  and  Sunday  night  a  great  audience 
was  present.  During  the  services  we  learned  that 
people  of  nine  nationalities  were  present;  but 
counting  England  and  the  United  States  as  one, 
so  far  as  language  was  concerned,  we  had  eight 
languages  in  the  congregation.  At  the  close  of 
the  services  I  had  the  people  sing  the  doxology, 
every  man  in  his  native  language,  and  it  was  sung 
in  English,  Spanish,  French,  German,  Italian, 
Dutch,  Welsh,  and  Flemish. 

"Dr.  J.  F.  Thompson  preached  on  'Giving  the 
heart  to  God.'  At  the  close  of  his  sermon,  an  in- 
vitation was  given  for  those  to  come  forward  who 
would  now  give  their  hearts  to  God.  In  a  few 
minutes  thirty-four  persons  were  kneeling  at  the 
chancel  rail.     Several  of  them  were  converted,  and 


14:8  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

gave  testimony  to  that  fact.  Among  the  number 
was  a  son  of  the  pastor.  The  entire  audience  was 
wonderfully  moved.  Not  more  than  half  the  peo- 
ple who  wanted  to  hear  the  sermon  and  enjoy  the 
services  were  able  to  get  into  the  building.  In 
the  memory  of  all  who  were  present  the  scene  will 
live  forever. 

"The  Sunday  before  the  meeting  of  the  An- 
nual Conference  I  preached  twice,  and  delivered 
two  addresses  in  Buenos  Ayres.  Dr.  A.  W.  Green- 
man,  the  presiding  elder  of  the  Buenos  Ayres  Dis- 
trict, was  my  interpreter  at  three  of  these  serv- 
ices— two  in  Spanish  and  one  in  Italian.  He  did 
his  work  well,  and  when  the  last  service. for  the  day 
closed  he  was  about  as  weary  as  I  was.  But  we 
both  felt  the  day  had  been  a  good  one  for  Christ's 
cause,  and  we  specially  felt  that  the  fourth  service 
was  a  helpful  one.  The  official  members  of  the 
Church  and  many  others  came  forward,  and  prayed 
for  the  enriching  of  their  spiritual  life,  and  for 
such  a  spiritual  equipment  as  they  needed  for  the 
right  sort  of  work  during  the  Conference  year 
upon  which  they  were  soon  to  enter.  This  service 
was  in  the  Second  Spanish  Church,  one  of  the 
strongest  Spanish  Churches  we  have  in  the  city. 

"We  spent  March  26th,  27th,  and  part  of 
28th  in  the  city  of  Montevideo,  looking  into  the 
work  of  our  schools  and  Churches,  preaching  for 
our  English  and  Spanish  congregations,  and  lay- 
ing the  corner-stone  of  our  new  church. 

"The  laying  of  the  corner-stone  was  an  occa- 
sion of  much  importance  to  our  cause  in  this  cap- 
ital city  of  Uruguay.  Careful  preparation  had 
been  made  for  the  services  by  Dr.  Craver,  the  pre- 


Bishop  Joyce  and  Foreign  Missions.       149 

siding  elder;  the  pastor,  Rev.  George  P.  Howard, 
and  the  lay  members  of  the  committee.  Invitations 
had  been  sent  to  the  president  of  the  republic,  the 
members  of  the  cabinet,  members  of  the  supreme 
court,  members  of  the  city  government,  business 
and  professional  men,  and  many  others,  including 
every  class  of  citizens. 

"In  the  evening  I  preached  to  our  Spanish  con- 
gregation. The  church  was  crowded.  Dr.  S.  P. 
Graver  was  my  interpreter.  The  Holy  Spirit  was 
manifestly  present.  At  the  close  of  the  sermon 
the  official  members  of  both  the  English  and  the 
Spanish  Churches  came  forward  seeking  the  en- 
riching of  their  spiritual  experience  and  life,  and 
such  equipment  for  their  work  for  the  year  they 
were  then  entering  upon,  as  only  the  Holy  Spirit 
could  give.  After  this  the  invitation  was  given 
to  those  who  wanted  to  seek  the  Lord  in  the  par- 
don of  their  sins,  and  receive  the  witness  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  that  great  fact,  and  more  than 
thirty  persons  accepted  the  invitation." 

Of  his  homeward  journey  he  wrote  as  fol- 
lows: 

"At  Rio  de  Janeiro,  the  capital  of  the  republic 
of  Brazil,  where  we  had  to  change  steamers,  we 
were  met,  on  the  arrival  of  our  steamer,  by  Brothers 
Tucker,  Kennedy,  and  Parker  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  taken  to  the  de- 
lightful home  of  Brother  Tucker.  To  him  and  his 
good  wife,  and  to  Brothers  Kennedy  and  Parker, 
we  are  indebted  for  charming  Christian  hospitality 
during  the  day  we  were  in  that  great  city  of  six 


150  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Jcryce. 

hundred  thousand  people.  It  gave  us  joy  to  meet 
these  brethren,  and  we  rejoiced  over  the  success 
God  is  steadily  giving  them  in  the  city  and  in  the 
republic,  and  the  growing  victories  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest  is  enabling  them  to  win." 

Early  in  1904  Bishop  Joyce  made  his  second 
visitation  to  the  South  American  Conferences. 
This  time  he  began  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and 
worked  his  way  through  the  continent  to  Chile. 
After  completing  his  work  in  the  Andes  region 
he  sailed  for  California,  reaching  Los  Angeles  in 
time  for  the  General  Conference,  which  met  there 
in  May. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

His  Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia. 


B 


ISHOP  JOYCE  made  the  following  re- 
port to  the  Board  of  Bishops  of  his  mis- 
sionary administration  in  Asia: 


"I  regard  it  as  one  of  the  great  opportunities 
of  my  life  that  came  to  me  in  my  appointment  to 
visit  our  missions  in  Eastern  Asia,  and  to  remain 
in  these  fields  two  years,  or  until  I  had  made  two 
tours  through  the  three  countries  and  presided 
twice  at  all  the  Conferences  and  annual  meetings 
of  the  missions. 

"I  left  the  United  States  in  the  month  of  June, 
1896,  and  reached  Yokohama  the  5th  of  July. 
I  was  met  at  my  steamer  by  missionaries,  native 
preachers,  and  others,  and  their  hearty  greeting 
gave  a  sense  of  home  feeling  at  once,  which  grew 
in  increasing  delights  as  the  days  came  and  went. 
Between  landing  and  the  meeting  of  the  Confer- 
ences the  days  were  spent  in  visiting  our  work  in 
and  about  Yokohama,  meeting  friends,  delivering 
addresses,  preaching  in  the  churches,  and  in  vari- 
ous other  ways  becoming  acquainted  with  the  field 
and  our  work. 

"Japan  is  a  beautiful  country,  and  has  many 
attractions  wholly  peculiar  to  itself.  Beginning 
151 


1513  Life  of  Isaac    Wilson  Joyce. 

in  the  extreme  south  with  the  Loochoo  Islands  and 
going  to  the  extreme  north  to  the  Hokaido,  the 
distance  is  three  thousand  miles.  The  average 
width  of  the  country  is  perhaps  less  than  two  hun- 
dred miles.  There  are  crowded  into  this  small 
space  forty -three  millions  of  people. 


"I  am  glad  to  say  that  I  have  been  in  every 
place  in  the  Empire  of  Japan  where  we  have  a 
missionary  stationed,  and  in  each  place  have 
preached  and  conducted  other  services.  I  have 
also  been  in  several  places  where  we  have  no  mis- 
sionary stationed,  but  where  we  have  native  preach- 
ers or  teachers.  The  sessions  of  the  Conferences, 
both  in  1896  and  1897,  were  interesting  occasions, 
showing  not  only  the  thorough  work  that  had  been 
done  by  our  missionaries  in  the  past,  but  also  the 
conscientious  work  that  our  present  force  is  seek- 
ing to  continue  in  every  part  of  the  field.  The 
work  of  the  sessions  also  showed  the  intelligent 
devotion  and  consecration  of  our  native  preachers 
and  helpers,  and  their  love  for  the  Church  that 
had  brought  them  so  many  advantages,  had  en- 
riched them  with  so  many  blessings  and  was  prov- 
ing to  be  so  helpful  to  them  in  their  individual 
as  well  as  in  their  home  lives  and  in  the  general 
good  of  their  country.  The  testimonies  given  in 
the  Conference  love-feasts  were  revelations  of  rich 
experiences  quite  in  keeping  with  the  testimonies 
we  hear  at  home  on  such  occasions.  In  the  debates 
during  the  sessions  the  native  preachers  showed  an 
intelligent  comprehension  of  all  subjects  relating 
to  the  Church,  her  breadth  of  purpose  and  her 


Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia.  153 

determination  to  do  her  utmost  not  only  in  bring- 
ing Japan  but  all  the  world  to  a  true  knowledge 
of  God  and  of  His  revelation  to  men.  Such  cities 
as  Sappora,  Hakodate,  Hirosaki,  Sendai,  Yoko- 
hama, Tokyo,  Nagoya,  Kioto,  Kobe,  Nagasaki, 
Kumamoto,  and  Kagoshima,  as  well  as  almost  in- 
numerable towns  and  villages,  show  the  inviting 
wealth  and  greatness  of  opportunity  to  the  Church, 
not  only  to  continue  her  work,  but  to  increase  her 
diligence  and  her  giving  both  of  means  and  work- 
ers to  the  ultimate  winning  of  these  wonderful 
Japanese  peoples  to  a  loyal  belief  in  God  and  in 
His  Son  Jesus  Christ  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 


"If  the  Church  knew  this  field  as  well  and 
thoroughly  as  the  missionaries  know  it  and  those 
who  have  visited  it,  it  would  be  anxious  to  send 
forward  all  needed  supplies  in  means  and  workers 
and  meet  every  spiritual  demand  of  the  country. 


"We  go  from  Japan  to  Korea.  In  doing  so 
we  go  by  steamer  from  Yokohama  to  Nagasaki, 
a  distance  of  eight  hundred  miles.  At  Nagasaki 
we  transfer  to  a  smaller  steamer  for  Chemulpo. 
On  our  way  we  touch  at  Fusan  in  Korea,  where 
the  ships  touch  in  going  to  and  returning  from 
Vladivostok.  From  Fusan  we  go  around  the  point 
of  the  island  and  land  at  Chemulpo.  We  tarry 
for  a  day  and  night  in  Chemulpo  inspecting  our 
work,  which  is  in  charge  of  C.  H.  Jones.  Hotel 
accommodations  in  the  town  are  very  good  and 
comfortable,  and  we  enjoy  our  stay  and  are  pleased 


154  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

with  the  growth,  aggressiveness,  thoroughness,  and 
outlook  of  our  work. 

"From  Chemulpo  we  go  up  the  Han  River 
sixty-two  miles  in  a  little  steamer,  and  then  are 
carried  across  the  country  in  a  chair  to  Seoul,  the 
capital  of  Korea.  In  Seoul  we  have  the  Paichai 
college,  also  a  printing-press,  bookstore,  hospital, 
and  evangelistic  work.  The  Woman's  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  has  a  school,  hospital,  dispen- 
sary, and  evangelistic  work. 


"Korea  is  a  little  over  seven  hundred  miles  in 
length  and  a  little  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  average  in  width,  and  in  this  small  area  are 
crowded  twelve  millions  of  people.  The  country 
has  never  been  overrun  by  the  Buddhist  priesthood 
and  its  teachings  to  the  degree  and  extent  that 
Japan  and  China  have  been.  What  may  be  called 
the  'lower  classes'  are  to  a  degree  believers  in 
Buddhism.  What  are  called  the  'educated  classes' 
are  influenced  by  the  teachings  of  Confucius.  The 
people,  however,  are  easy  to  reach,  and  they  are 
ever  ready  to  listen  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel. 
Within  the  last  four  years  there  has  been  a  won- 
derful turning  of  the  people  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  to  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament 
and  the  ministrations  of  the  missionaries  in  chapels, 
villages,  and  everywhere  else  that  the  missionary 
stops  to  give  a  message  to  the  multitude.  Ap- 
parently all  Korea  is  ready  to  give  such  attention 
to  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  as  would  indicate 
the  readiness  of  that  country  to  believe  in  the 
doctrines  and  teachings  of  the  Christian  religion. 


Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia.         155 

If  all  the  missions  now  at  work  in  that  country 
could  be  re-enforced  to  the  extent  of  the  needs 
now  manifest  in  the  field  with  means  and  workers, 
it  is  the  conviction  of  those  best  informed  that  in 
a  period  of  ten  or  fifteen  years  the  whole  country 
would  be  practically  Christian.  A  visit  to  Korea 
and  its  peoples  is  surely  a  great  event  in  one's 
life.  I  am  glad  I  was  favored  with  the  privilege 
of  twice  visiting  the  country.  I  am  glad  also 
that  on  one  of  my  visits  I  had  the  honor  of  an  in- 
terview with  the  king,  and,  in  response  to  some 
kind  things  he  said  of  our  missionaries,  of  Amer- 
icans, and  of  the  United  States,  I  had  the  oppor- 
tunit3r  to  thank  him  for  the  kindly  services  he  and 
other  Koreans  in  official  positions  had  rendered  our 
school  and  other  forms  of  our  work. 

"The  annual  sessions  of  the  mission  were  not 
the  only  occasions  of  interest,  but  to  me  were  to 
an  unusual  degree  full  of  interest  and  profit.  I 
not  only  preached  to  our  native  converts,  which 
of  course  had  to  be  done  through  an  interpreter, 
but  I  preached  to  the  English-speaking  people  on 
several  Sunday  afternoons  in  our  college  chapel. 
One  afternoon  I  had  an  audience  of  forty  people 
who  could  speak  English.  In  that  congregation 
of  only  forty  persons  there  were  nine  nationalities. 
This  shows  the  attention  that  little  Korea  is  at- 
tracting among  the  nations  of  the  world,  for  the 
representatives  of  these  nine  nationalities  were  not 
tourists,  but  were  residents  of  the  city  and  repre- 
sented in  some  capacity  the  interests  of  their  na- 
tions. We  are  building  a  church  not  far  from  the 
king's  palace,  a  commodious,  well  appointed,  brick 
church  that  will  seat  one  thousand  people.     When 


156  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

I  left  Korea  the  building  had  not  cost  up  to  that 
date  any  of  our  societies  a  dollar,  the  expense  had 
been  provided  for  by  the  missionaries  subscribing 
and  paying  the  money  out  of  their  salaries,  and 
by  contributions  of  the  native  Christians.  They 
ought  to  have  help,  because  the  enterprise  is  a 
burden  greater  than  the  financial  strength  of  the 
missionaries  and  native  Christians  can  carry. 

"The  native  Christians  do  not  worship  to- 
gether in  Korea  as  we  do  in  America.  The  Church 
is  divided  into  two  parts,  one  for  men  and  one 
for  women,  and  the  pulpit  is  placed  so  that  the 
minister  can  see  easily  both  parts  of  the  congre- 
gation. The  men  sit  on  one  side  of  a  wall  or 
curtain,  and  the  women  on  the  other.  They  sit 
on  the  floor  on  bamboo  mats,  and  all  join  in  the 
singing  and  in  every  other  part  of  the  worship, 
such  as  the  Lord's  Prayer,  Apostles'  Creed,  and 
the  Ten  Commandments.  They  give  the  most 
earnest  attention,  and  no  matter  how  long  you 
preach  they  manifest  not  the  slightest  sign  of 
weariness  or  lack  of  interest.  I  shall  always  retain 
an  exceedingly  happy  memory  of  the  love-feasts 
I  attended  with  these  native  converts.  Their  won- 
derful testimonies,  their  clear  statements  of  the 
pardoning  power  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  the  comforts 
derived  from  the  presence  and  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  expression  of  their  unbounded 
faith  in  the  promises  of  God,  their  great  love  for 
our  Heavenly  Father,  and  also  their  love  for  the 
Church  and  the  missionaries,  all  combined,  made  an 
impression  on  my  mind  that  I  will  carry  with  me 
all  my  life.  I  know  of  no  mission  field  anywhere 
that  has  more  promise  in  it,  nor  one  that  seems 


Missionary  Tours  Through  'Asia.         157 

so  near  to  a  complete  surrender  to  Jesus  Christ 
and  all  that  implies,  than  this  strange  and  inter- 
esting Korean  field.  All  that  is  needed,  in  my 
judgment,  for  a  speedy  and  abiding  conquest,  is 
sufficient  means  and  the  needed  number  of  workers. 
"We  go  from  Korea  to  North  China,  touching 
at  Chefoo,  one  of  the  important  places  of  the 
China  Inland  Mission  and  also  of  the  Presbyterian 
Mission.  We  land  at  Tientsin,  where  we  have  a 
Boys'  Boarding  and  Day  School,  also  two  mis- 
sions, a  street  chapel,  and  three  homes  for  mis- 
sionaries. The  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Soci- 
ety have  a  large  and  well  furnished  hospital  for 
women  and  children.  Our  work  here  is  on  a  good 
foundation,  is  well  organized,  well  managed,  and 
has  a  steady  development.  From  Tientsin  to 
Pekin,  the  way  I  had  to  go  the  first  time,  is  very 
nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Pekin  has  a 
population  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  million 
people.  It  is  a  city  full  of  interest  to  travelers. 
Being  the  capital  of  the  empire,  here  are  gathered 
the  ministers  of  State  representing  all  the  coun- 
tries of  the  world  that  have  commercial  or  other 
relations  with  China.  Upon  the  streets  as  well  as 
in  social  gatherings  and  Church  services,  you  will 
meet  people  from  almost  every  country  of  the 
world.  Many  missionary  societies  are  represented 
in  this  great  center,  but  so  great  are  the  needs 
and  so  varied  the  demands  and  so  important  the 
situation,  that  if  all  the  missionary  societies  now 
at  work  in  all  China  were  to  be  represented  in  this 
great  million  population  center,  they  would  in  no 
sense  of  the  word  crowd  upon  each  other,  nor  be 
in  each  other's  way,  nor  do  other  than  help  each 


158  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

other  in  their  great  work  of  as  speedily  as  possible 
impressing  this  vast  multitude  of  people  with  the 
knowledge  and  importance  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ.   "  

"The  North  China  Conference  covers  an  im- 
mense territory,  and  the  reports  brought  in  by 
the  missionaries  and  the  native  preachers  and  help- 
ers at  both  sessions  of  the  Conference,  show  the 
hold  that  our  work  has  upon  the  population,  and 
also  the  thoroughness  with  which  all  our  helpers  do 
their  workT  Just  before  the  session  opened  in 
September,  1896,  there  was  a  convention  of  the 
Christian  workers  in  all  North  China,  held  in  the 
city  under  the  general  direction  of  John  R.  Mott 
and  D.  Willard  Lyon,  who  were  making  a  tour 
of  the  world  in  the  interests  of  the  College  Forward 
Movement  on  behalf  of  Missions.  I  had  the  honor 
of  opening  the  convention  with  an  address,  Dr. 
Sheffield,  the  president  of  the  college  at  Tung 
Chow,  being  my  interpreter.  The  convention  was 
in  session  several  days,  and  was  attended  with 
great  blessings  and  was  of  very  great  benefit  to 
the  more  than  two  hundred  workers  that  were 
present  from  almost  every  part  of  North  China. 
Following  this  convention  the  North  China  Con- 
ference convened  in  the  city  in  our  new  church. 
We  had  the  usual  order  of  Conference,  beginning 
in  the  morning  at  half-past  eight  o'clock.  The 
first  half  hour  was  prayer-meeting,  and  from  nine 
to  twelve,  Conference  business.  From  two  to  four, 
committee  meetings,  and  from  five  to  six,  and  from 
seven  to  eight  Bible  readings  or  sermons  and  re- 
vival services.     This  was  about  the  usual  order  at 


Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia.  159 

most  of  the  sessions  of  the  Conferences  and  annual 
meetings  in  China. 

"J.  H.  Pyke,  W.  T.  Hobart,  and  W.  F. 
Walker  were  my  interpreters  from  time  to  time. 
Brother  Pyke  is  from  Indiana,  and  Brother  Hobart 
is  the  son  of  the  well-known  Dr.  Chauncey  Hobart, 
of  Minnesota.  The  Conference  business  was  con- 
ducted with  as  much  order,  thoughtfulness,  and 
thoroughness  as  Conference  work  is  usually  done 
in  the  United  States.  The  native  brethren  from 
time  to  time  took  part  in  the  discussions,  and 
showed  in  every  way  not  only  an  interest,  but  an 
intelligent  comprehension  of  the  questions  under 
discussion  and  the  general  work  and  aims  of  the 
Church.  Several  of  the  native  members  of  the 
Conference  are  graduates  of  the  Pekin  University. 
They  have  had  strong  financial  inducements  of- 
fered them  to  enter  government  service,  but  with- 
out hesitation  they  declined  these  offers,  entered 
the  ministry,  and  are  doing  in  all  cases  successful 
work  as  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  notwithstanding 
the  salary  we  pay  them  is  in  some  instances  not 
over  one-third  of  what  they  could  have  if  they 
entered  government  service.  The  man  Wang,  who 
when  a  boy  wheeled  his  mother  in  a  wheelbarrow 
four  hundred  miles  in  order  to  have  her  instructed 
in  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  by  our  missionaries 
in  Pekin,  is  a  member  of  this  North  China  Con- 
ference. A  large,  fine-looking  man  and  a  happy- 
hearted,  successful  worker  in  the  Lord's  vineyard. 
The  native  secretary  of  this  Conference,  Tejui, 
would  attract  attention  anywhere.  He  is  over  six 
feet  tall,  has  an  intelligent  face,  conducts  himself 
with  great  dignity,  and  has  the  love  and  confidence 


160 


Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 


of  all  his  brethren.  Indeed,  the  native  preachers 
and  workers  are  a  body  of  fine-looking  men,  not 
only  in  the  North  China  Conference,  but  in  all  the 
Conferences  and  Missions  in  the  empire. 

"The  influence  and  greatness  of  our  work  grew 
upon  me  rapidly  as  I  went  from  place  to  place  in 
different  parts  of  China  in  the  prosecution  of  my 
work.  At  different  times  in  the  North  China  Con- 
ference, as  well  as  at  all  other  sessions  of  the  vari- 
ous Conferences,  people  were  invited  to  come  for- 
ward and  kneel  as  penitents  asking  God  to  pardon 
their  sins,  and  many  came.  So  far  as  we  could  see 
they  came  intelligently,  understanding  why  they 
came  and  why  it  was  they  could  come.  The  native 
preachers,  workers,  and  missionaries  knelt  by  their 
side  and  instructed  them,  and  many  of  them  found 
Christ  in  the  pardon  of  their  sins,  and  manifested 
by  word  and  act  their  great  joy  over  their  new- 
found experience.  In  studying  the  matter  closely 
;-and  continuously  from  week  to  week  as  I  went 
from  Conference  to  Conference,  I  learned  this, 
to  me,  very  important  truth:  after  you  have 
^  preached  to  the  heathen  mind  long  enough  to  get 
that  mind  to  understand  in  outline  the  plan  of 
redemption,  the  mind  understanding  who  God  is, 
what  He  has  done  for  the  human  race;  get  them 
to  understand  that  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God 
wants  to  save  every  man  from  sin,  and  that  if  men 
will  be  sorry  for  their  sins  and  trust  God  in  the 
name  of  Christ  they  will  receive  pardon  for  sins, 
md  the  Holy  Spirit  will  bring  to  their  hearts  the 
testimony  and  evidence  that  God  does  forgive  and 
las  forgiven,  and  that  the  New  Testament  tells 
us  all  about  the  reasons  why   Jesus  Christ  came 


Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia.         161 


into  the  world ;  because  men  are  sinners,  they  will 
be  lost  if  they  are  not  saved,  and  explain  how  men 
came  to  be  sinners;  and  with  only  that  much 
knowledge  invite  them  to  come  forward  and  kneel 
down  and  seek  God,  with  plain,  honest  instruc- 
tion you  can  rely  upon  the  Holy  Spirit  to  do  His 
work  in  their  souls.  In  other  words  and  briefer 
form,  whenever  a  heathen  mind  gets  a  clear  out- 
line idea  of  the  plan  of  the  atonement,  invite  him 
to  act  upon  that  knowledge  and  trust  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  complete  the  work,  and  then  after  con- 
version takes  place,  take  the  mind  and  instruct  it 
more  fully  and  completely  in  regard  to  Christian 
doctrine,  Christian  experience,  Christian  living, 
Christian  obedience,  and  Christian  character.  No 
amount  of  instruction  in  itself  have  I  ever  seen 
effective  in  leading  a  mind  to  surrender  to  God, 
so  that  the  life  is  made  new  by  a  new-found  ex- 
perience. Continuous  instruction  without  asking 
the  mind  to  act  and  rely  upon  the  Holy  Ghost 
for  help,  is  too  apt  to  lead  the  mind  to  rely  upon 
the  instruction  for  the  renovation  of  the  soul  and 
the  transformation  of  the  life  rather  than  to  de- 
pend upon  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  execute  in  the  soul  the  ends  aimed  at  in  the 
teaching.  Therefore  I  have  found  it  best,  wisest 
and  safest,  more  abiding,  to  set  forth  the  simple 
idea  of  the  atoning  work  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
soul,  and  when  the  mind  fully  takes  that  in,  then 
invite  it  to  act  at  once  in  accepting  Jesus  Christ 
as  a  Savior,  and  depending  upon  the  Holy  Ghost 
for  the  testimony  that  the  work  is  done.  When 
that  work  has  been  done,  let  the  missionary  take 
11 


i 


n 


162  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

the  convert  and  instruct  him,  thoroughly  train  him 
by  the  wisest  of  instruction  in  the  doctrines  of  the 
Bible,  the  principles  of  the  New  Testament ;  in 
short,  a  complete  outfit  given  through  instruction, 
after  the  mind  has  an  experimental  knowledge  of 
sins  forgiven. 

"The  second  time  that  I  went  to  Pekin  the 
railroad  from  Shan  Hai  Kaun  to  Tientsin  and 
Pekin  was  finished,  so  that  whereas  it  took  me 
nearly  five  days  to  reach  Pekin  the  first  year  I  was 
there,  by  boat  and  chair,  the  second  year  it  took 
me  by  railroad  less  than  seven  hours  to  go  from 
Tientsin  to  Pekin. 

"The  first  year  I  was  in  China,  after  my  work 
was  finished  at  the  North  China  Conference,  Mrs. 
Joyce  and  myself,  Brother  Hobart  and  a  mission- 
ary of  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
rode  in  an  American  buckboard  from  Pekin  to 
Tsun  Hua,  the  home  of  Brother  Hobart  and  Dr. 
Hopkins  and  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  So- 
ciety ladies,  the  distance  being  one  hundred  miles 
almost  directly  north.  We  had  two  mules  hitched 
to  our  buckboard,  driving  them  tandem,  and  we 
made  the  one  hundred  miles  in  three  days,  most 
of  the  time  over  bad  roads.  We  had  carts  to  go 
along  with  us  carrying  our  bedding,  our  pro- 
visions, and  some  of  the  native  helpers.  We  slept 
at  night  in  Chinese  inns,  and  were  comfortable. 
Just  beyond  Tsun  Hua  is  the  Great  Wall,  said 
to  have  been  built  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ. 
A  large  company  of  us  had  the  pleasure  of  visiting 
it,  climbing  to  the  top  of  it,  and,  after  eating 
our  lunch,  we  sang  some  Christian  hymns  and  gave 
thanks  to  God  for  the  coming  of  a  better  day  and 


Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia.  161 


a  more  glorious  hope  for  China.  From  Tsun  Hua 
we  went  to  Tientsin,  stopping  on  the  way  at  some 
of  our  chapels,  taking  a  mid-day  lunch  in  one, 
spending  the  night  in  another. 

"From  Tientsin  we  sailed  for  Shanghai  on  our 
way  to  the  Central  China  Mission.  After  stop- 
ping a  few  days  in  Shanghai  we  proceeded  on  our 
way  up  the  Yangtsze  River  to  Kiukiang,  where 
the  annual  meeting  was  to  be  held. 


/ 


"Our  evangelistic  work  in  this  Mission  has  taken 
on  new  vigor  and  life  in  the  last  two  years,  and 
is  winning  success.  At  the  session  of  1896  the 
brethren  covenanted  to  pray  for  a  net  increase  by 
conversions  for  the  coming  year  of  one  thousand. 
Throughout  the  Mission  prayer  was  offered  to  God 
asking;  for  such  evidence  of  His  favor.  When  the 
Mission  convened  in  1897  the  figures  revealed  the 
pleasant  fact  that  the  gain  had  been  one  thousand 
and  thirty.  They  covenanted  to  pray  that  the 
net  gain  might  be  even  greater  the  coming  year, 
and  throughout  the  Mission  the  whole  year  prayer 
has  ascended  to  God  for  the  outpouring  of  His 
Spirit  in  every  part  of  the  Mission.  The  result  is 
that  in  various  parts  of  the  field  the  success  has 
been  unusual. 


"From  this  Mission  we  returned  to  Shanghai, 
and  from  Shanghai  we  go  to  Foochow,  a  distance 
of  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  We  go,  of  course, 
by  steamer.  Our  Mission  in  Foochow  began  in 
1847,  and  the  field  is  a  great  one.  We  have  in 
Foochow  the  Anglo-Chinese  College,  the  Theolog- 


»* 


164  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

ical  School,  and  in  and  about  Foochow  the  day 
schools  that  have  obtained  such  wonderful  suc- 
cesses under  the  direction  and  care  of  George  S. 
Miner. 

"As  is  well  known,  Bishop  Wiley  died  in  Foo- 
chow, November,  1884.  His  love  for  China  was 
all-absorbing.  He  loved  the  work,  was  always  in- 
terested in  efforts  to  advance  it,  remembered  with 
great  delight  the  days  when  he  was  a  medical  mis- 
sionary at  Foochow,  and  esteemed  it  a  great  priv- 
ilege and  honor  to  visit  China  as  a  bishop.  He 
did  much  in  many  ways  to  advance  the  interests 
of  the  work  in  that  field.  He  loved  the  native 
Christians,  and  they  in  turn  loved  him  with  a  great 
and  tender  love.  His  body  is  buried  in  the  little 
cemetery  in  Foochow.  The  Sunday  of  the  Con- 
ference session  in  1896  was  just  twelve  years  to  a 
day  after  his  death.  I  knew  Bishop  Wiley  very 
intimately.  I  loved  him  as  a  brother.  I  was  pas- 
tor of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Cincinnati,  where  he  al- 
ways attended  when  he  was  at  home.  I  learned  to 
know  him,  and  my  love  for  him  grew  as  my  knowl- 
edge of  him  increased.  I  was,  one  of  the  little 
company  that  bade  him  farewell  in  Cincinnati  when 
he  started  for  China  on  his  last  trip.  On  that 
Conference  Sunday  in  Foochow  when  I  arose  to 
preach  I  thought  of  him.  I  thought  of  his  going 
from  that  field  to  his  final  resting-place  with  God 
in  heaven.  I  was  in  a  tender  mood.  The  presence 
of  the  Lord  seemed  to  be  in  the  congregation,  and 
the  blessing  of  God  came  upon  the  great  audience. 
In  the  afternoon  at  the  close  of  the  ordination 
service   there   was   a   testimony   meeting,   really   a 


Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia.  165 

praise  service,  and  there  were  many  tender  and 
beautiful  references  made  to  Bishop  Wiley,  all 
expressive  of  the  great  love  the  native  Chinese 
Christians  have  for  him.  After  the  service  many 
of  the  older  ones  spoke  with  me,  telling  me  of 
many  things  they  remembered  about  the  Bishop, 
and  saying  many  tender  and  beautiful  things 
about  him  and  his  love  for  them.  Altogether  this 
session  of  the  Conference  was  one  of  very  great  in- 
fluence, and  the  preachers  all  went  to  their  work 
apparently  to  do  better  service  in  the  Lord's  vine- 
yard than  they  had  ever  done  before. 


"From  Foochow  we  go  to  Hing  Hua.  We  go 
twenty-five  miles  by  boat,  and  are  then  carried 
fifty  miles  in  a  sedan  chair.  Four  stalwart  China- 
men carried  myself,  but  two  were  sufficient  for  each 
of  the  other  members  of  the  party,  who  were  less 
in  weight  than  myself.  We  traveled  twenty-five 
miles  the  first  day,  and  spent  the  night  in  one  of 
our  chapels.  The  next  morning  we  started  early, 
intending  to  reach  Hing  Hua  by  sundown.  Soon 
after  we  started  we  were  met  by  native  Christians, 
who  saluted  us  with  instruments  of  music  and  with 
firecrackers.  They  went  with  us  to  the  first  vil- 
lage, when  another  company  of  Christians  saluted 
us  in  like  manner  and  went  with  us  to  the  next 
village,  and  so  during  the  entire  twenty-five  miles 
we  had  music,  firecrackers,  and  singing  of  hymns. 
Christians  came  in  from  the  surrounding  country 
to  join  in  the  procession,  glad  to  show  their  belief 
in  and  love  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  their  de- 
votion to  Him.     They  seemed  to  think  or  know 


Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

of  no  way  better  than  this  one  of  revealing  their 
devotion  to  the  great  cause  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  seemed  to  desire  to  let  the  heathen 
people  about  them  know  that  they  were  not 
ashamed  of  Christ  nor  His  Gospel.  It  was  a  pe- 
culiar experience  to  us,  and  one  we  always  will  re- 
member. When  we  entered  Hing  Hua  we  were 
saluted  by  the  pupils  of  the  two  schools  with  joy- 
ful acclamations,  hearty  salutations,  and  earnest 
singing  of  hymns,  and  the  explosion  of  fire- 
crackers. 

"At  this  session  the  Hing  Hua  Mission  Con- 
ference was  organized  by  the  authority  of  the 
General  Conference. 

"The  only  missionaries  we  have  in  that  field 
are  W.  N.  Brewster,  superintendent,  Franklin  Oh- 
linger,  and  T.  B.  Owen.  This  Conference  was 
originally  a  part  of  the  territory  of  the  old  Foo- 
chow  Conference.  The  missionaries  had  been  dili- 
gent and  successful,  and  the  new  Conference  was 
organized  with  something  over  five  thousand  mem- 
bers and  probationers.  They  had  not  only  been 
drilled  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  so  as  to 
enjoy  a  clear  Christian  experience,  but  they  had 
also  been  drilled  in  regard  to  Church  organization, 
and  also  in  giving,  so  that  their  collections  were  a 
remarkable  showing  of  consecration  of  their  means, 
although  the  people,  as  is  well  known,  in  all  parts 
of  China  are  very  poor.  The  session  was  a  very 
happy  one,  and  the  utmost  harmony  prevailed. 
The  session  seemed  to  be  permeated  to  the  utmost 
with  the  spirit  of  brotherly  kindness  and  devo- 
tion to  the  cause  of  Christ.  The  native  Christians 
for  miles  around  came  in  to  the  services  on  the 


Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia.  167 

Sabbath,  and  our  new  church,  that  will  seat  eight 
hundred  people,  was  more  than  filled,  many  people 
having  to  stand  about  the  doors.  On  Sunday 
afternoon  I  baptized  thirty-seven  children,  all  of 
them  of  Christian  parentage. 


"The  visit  to  Hing  Hua  completes  the  tour  of 
all  the  Conferences  in  Eastern  Asia  except  West 
China.  Therefore  we  turn  our  faces  to  the  direc- 
tion of  that  distant  field.  We  return  to  Foochow 
the  same  way  that  we  came  to  Hing  Hua.  We 
are  conveyed  in  chairs  until  we  reach  our  boats, 
and  then  go  up  the  Min  River  in  our  mission  boat. 
No  bishop,  until  I  went  to  West  China,  had  ever 
visited  that  distant  field.  Not  because  they  did 
not  want  to  go,  but  because  conditions  were  not 
favorable  for  them  to  go  when  they  were  in  the 
field.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  have  the  oppor- 
tunity to  go,  and  I  availed  myself  of  it.  We  go 
from  Foochow  to  Shanghai,  and  in  Shanghai  we 
made  our  preparations  to  go  up  the  Yangtsze 
River  on  our  way  to  West  China.  The  steamers 
on  the  Yangtsze  River  are  very  good,  and  as  a 
whole  furnish  every  required  comfort  and  conveni- 
ence. We  went  from  Shanghai  to  Hankow  on  one 
of  these  steamers.  At  this  latter  place  we  trans- 
ferred to  a  smaller  steamer,  which  took  us  to 
Ichang.  From  Shanghai  to  Hankow  the  distance 
is  six  hundred  miles,  and  from  Hankow  to  Ichang 
the  distance  is  four  hundred  miles.  Ichang  is  the 
end  of  steam  navigation  going  up  the  river.  We 
were  delayed  at  Hankow  ten  days  waiting  for  the 
smaller  steamer  to  take  us  to  Ichang.     So  while 


168  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

waiting  in  Hankow  I  had  the  privilege  of  visiting 
the  work  of  our  Wesleyan  brethren  in  Hankow 
and  in  the  cities  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river, 
and  was  greatly  pleased  with  all  I  saw.  I  also 
had  the  privilege  of  visiting  the  station  of  the 
China  Inland  Mission,  and  also  the  work,  hospital 
and  evangelistic,  of  the  London  Missionary  Soci- 
ety. I  had  the  privilege  of  lecturing  for  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  preaching 
three  times  for  the  London  Missionary  brethren. 
I  visited  the  hospital  of  the  London  Mission  and 
the  hospital  of  the  Wesleyan  Society.  In  every- 
thing I  saw  of  the  work  of  both  societies  I  was 
greatly  pleased. 

"When  I  reached  Ichang  we  found  Rev.  Q.  A. 
Meyers  and  wife,  of  our  Chung  King  Mission,  who 
had  come  down  the  river  to  accompany  us  from 
Ichang  to  Chung  King.  He  had  hired  a  house 
boat  for  us  and  engaged  the  men,  forty  in  num- 
ber, to  pull  us  up  the  river.  A  house  boat  is 
hired  just  as  a  house  is  rented,  empty.  You  put 
in  your  own  provisions  and  your  own  furniture, 
hire  your  servants,  and  have  general  supervision 
for  the  time  you  have  it,  just  the  same  as  if  it 
were  your  own  property.  At  Shanghai,  knowing 
that  I  would  have  to  furnish  my  own  provisions, 
I  laid  in  a  comfortable  share  of  supplies,  such  as 
American  flour,  American  cornmeal,  American 
meat,  Boston  baked  beans  put  up  in  cans,  and 
other  articles  that  it  was  supposed  we  would  need 
on  our  trip.  When  I  reached  Ichang,  I  found 
that  Brother  M}rers  also  had  laid  in  something  of 
a  supply.  There  were  other  missionaries  of  other 
missions  wanting  to  go  up  the  river  with  us,  so  a 


Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia.  169 

second  boat  was  hired  and  some  forty  men  also 
to  pull  them  up  the  river.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Woolsey, 
whom  the  Board  was  sending  out  as  medical  mis- 
sionaries for  West  China,  were  in  our  company, 
and  we  had  a  doctor  going  out  to  West  China  to 
work  for  the  London  Missionary  Society,  and  a 
Baptist  brother  and  his  wife  also  going  into  that 
field.  We  divided  our  company,  myself  and  wife 
and  Brother  Myers  and  wife  in  one  boat,  Dr. 
Woolsey  and  wife  and  the  London  physician  and 
Mr.  Upcraft  and  wife,  of  the  Baptist  Mission,  in 
the  other  boat.  Having  laid  in  our  supplies  both 
of  food  and  furniture  we  were  soon  ready  to  start, 
but  no  matter  in  how  much  hurry  one  may  be,  it 
takes  just  so  much  time — so  much  talk,  talk,  talk, 
for  a  Chinaman  to  get  ready  to  start.  It  does  no 
good  to  worry,  it  does  n't  help  a  particle  to  make 
a  fuss,  just  be  patient.  They  will  start  after 
while.  From  Ichang  to  Chung  King  the  distance 
is  five  hundred  miles.  When  the  winds  were  favor- 
able we  put  up  the  sails  and  traveled  with  a  fair 
degree  of  speed;  when  the  winds  are  contrary, 
then  the  men  have  to  pull.  This  is  called  track- 
ing. A  large  rope  made  of  bamboo  is  made  fast 
to  the  boat  and  the  other  end  of  it  is  put  ashore, 
and  the  forty  men  get  hold  of  it  and  then  patiently 
tramp,  tramp,  tramp.  At  intervals  they  divide 
and  a  number  come  on  the  boat  to  get  their  rice, 
and  after  them  the  others  come  and  eat  and  rest. 
At  night  we  tied  up.  When  we  came  to  rapids, 
and  there  were  many  of  them,  we  usually  had  to 
pull  ashore  below  the  rapids,  and  we  all  clamored 
out  and  walked  around.  Then  above  the  rapids 
we  had   the  privilege   of  watching   the   men  pull 


170  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

the  boat  through  the  noisy,  tumbling  water.  At 
most  of  these  rapids  we  had  to  hire  an  increased 
number  of  men.  In  one  instance  we  hired  one 
hundred  additional  men.  At  one  that  was  called 
'New  Rapids,'  having  been  made  by  a  recent  land- 
slide, we  hired  an  additional  force  of  two  hundred 
men.  The  boy  that  waited  on  the  table  and  the 
one  that  did  the  cooking  for  us  were  Christians. 
We  had  prayers  in  the  evening  in  English,  and  in 
the  morning  in  Chinese.  Brother  Myers  conducted 
the  prayers  in  Chinese,  the  Chinese  servants  taking 
their  part  from  time  to  time  as  requested.  We 
had  services  on  Sunday,  and  the  people  about  the 
place  where  we  tied  up  came  down,  of  course,  to 
see  and  hear. 

"The  scenery  along  the  Upper  Yangtsze  re- 
minds one  at  times  of  some  of  the  scenery  in  Colo- 
rado. Three  or  four  of  the  gorges  are  very  fine. 
We  have  no  missionary  work  on  the  Yangtsze 
River  from  Kiukiang  to  Chung  King,  a  distance 
of  one  thousand  miles  or  more. 

"We  were  twenty-seven  days  making  the  dis- 
tance of  five  hundred  miles  in  this  houseboat.  The 
brethren  of  Chung  King  heard  at  one  time  that  I 
was  not  to  visit  them,  that  the  trip  was  so  long 
and  accompanied  with  so  much  supposed  danger, 
that  I  had  concluded  not  to  go.  But  when  the 
word  reached  them  that  I  was  certainly  coming, 
they,  judging  about  the  time  I  would  likely  to 
reach  there,  started  down  the  river  in  our  mission 
boat  and  met  us  a  few  miles  below  the  city.  Such 
a  welcome  as  they  gave  us !  So  full  of  joy,  so  full 
of   heartiness,   so   full   of   earnest   expressions   of 


Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia.  171 

thankfulness,  thai    I  was  paid  more  than  a  thou- 
sand times  for  making  the  trip. 

"We  reached  Chung  King  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon  of  February  1,  1897.  The  city  has 
between  two  hundred  and  fifty  and  three  hundred 
thousand  people.  We  are  well  situated  here.  We 
have  good  property  and  we  are  doing  good  work. 
It  was  necessary  that  I  go  to  Chentu,  the  capital 
of  the  province,  before  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
West  China  Mission  should  convene.  There  are 
two  routes  by  which  I  could  go.  I  could  get  a 
smaller  boat  and  go  on  up  the  river,  which  would 
be  five  hundred  miles  further;  or  I  could  go  by  a 
route  they  call  the  'Little  Road'  and  be  carried  in 
a  chair,  and  this  route  was  three  hundred  miles. 
I  chose  to  go  in  the  chair.  They  secured  four  stal- 
wart Chinamen  to  carry  me.  Dr.  McCartney,  in 
charge  of  our  hospital  in  Chung  King,  went  with 
me  as  my  guide  and  interpreter.  We  had  men 
with  us  to  carry  our  beds  and  food,  and  a  man 
to  cook.  Another  man  to  take  care  of  the  doctor's 
horse.  It  seemed  a  long  journey  to  be  carried 
three  hundred  miles  in  a  chair.  I  felt,  however, 
that  it  was  my  duty  to  go,  and  with  that  sense  of 
obligation  upon  me  I  did  not  give  the  difficulties 
of  the  journey  any  special  consideration.  On  our 
journey  we  stopped  over  night  in  Chinese  inns. 
Our  cook  prepared  our  food.  When  the  evening 
meal  was  over  and  we  were  ready  for  sleep,  we 
had  our  prayers.  Dr.  McCartney  usually  con- 
ducted the  same.  Sometimes  our  cook  would  lead 
the  devotions,  and  once  in  awhile  another  member 
of  the  party  would  conduct  the  services.    We  arose 


172  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

early  in  the  morning,  and  our  cook  would  go  for- 
ward and  select  a  place  some  six  or  eight  miles 
ahead  and  have  breakfast  for  us  when  we  came 
up.  The  rest  of  the  party  would  come  after  us, 
bringing  the  beds.  Half  way  to  Chentu  is  the  city 
of  Sui  Ling,  and  here  we  spent  Sunday.  We  had 
a  private  service  early  Sunda}^  morning  in  our 
little  chapel.  Dr.  McCartney  preached,  and  then 
through  him  as  an  interpreter  I  led  class.  There 
were  twenty-four  persons  present,  and  I  led  it  in 
the  old-fashioned  Methodist  manner,  each  one  giv- 
ing his  or  her  experience.  I  asked  them  to  tell 
me  how  it  was  they  became  Christians,  and  what 
led  them  first  to  think  of  Christ  and  give  their 
hearts  to  Him.  They  assigned  various  reasons, 
all  of  which  I  have  noted  down.  After  this  meet- 
ing we  threw  open  the  doors  of  our  chapel,  and  a 
great  crowd  came  in.  I  preached,  Dr.  McCartney 
preached,  and  then  our  native  pastors  preached. 
We  then  went  back  to  our  Chinese  inn,  cooked  our 
dinner,  and  then  went  out  to  one  of  the  largest 
heathen  temples  in  the  city.  A  great  crowd  fol- 
lowed us  everywhere.  After  we  had  looked  through 
the  temple,  we  went  into  the  open  court  of  it  and 
held  a  Gospel  service.  We  sang  hymns,  we  read 
the  Scripture,  we  prayed  and  preached.  The  great 
crowd  steadily  increased.  All  was  quiet  and  very 
orderly,  and  not  a  single  word  or  act  was  said 
or  done  to  show  us  disrespect.  Even  the  Buddhist 
priests  treated  us  with  kindly  consideration,  bring- 
ing me  a  chair  that  I  might  sit  while  the  other 
brethren  were  conducting  the  services.  In  the  even- 
ing several  of  the  native  Christians  came  to  our 
Chinese  inn,  and  the  Scriptures  were  read  and  I 


Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia.         173 

said  a  few  words  to  them.  Dr.  McCartney  also 
talked  and  prayed  with  them.  After  dismissing 
them  we  went  to  our  beds,  thankful  to  God  that 
we  had  had  an  opportunity  of  doing  a  little  good 
for  our  blessed  Savior  that  day. 

"Next  morning  we  started  early,  and  in  due 
time  reached  Chentu,  making  the  distance  from 
Chung  King  to  Chentu,  three  hundred  miles,  in 
ten  days.  Chentu  is  the  capital  of  Szechuen  Prov- 
ince, and  is  a  city  of  five  hundred  thousand  people. 
Here  is  where  the  riots  occurred  in  May,  1895. 
The  rioters  destroyed  our  property  and  the  prop- 
erty of  other  missions  as  well,  but  the  Chinese  Gov- 
ernment was  called  on  by  our  Government  to  make 
good  the  loss  of  property,  which  was  done.  When 
I  reached  there  two  houses  had  been  rebuilt,  and  a 
neat  new  church  and  a  school  building,  and  per- 
haps some  others  which  I  do  not  now  recall. 

"I  was  in  Chentu  several  days,  and  had  the 
pleasure  of  dedicating  our  new  church,  baptizing 
several  native  converts,  preaching  and  talking  upon 
several  occasions,  and  twice  conducting  services 
for  all  the  missionaries  of  the  several  missions  in 
Chentu. 

"The  day  I  dedicated  the  new  church  we  had 
in  the  audience  a  native  of  Thibet,  a  Lama  priest. 
I  had  sent  for  him,  that  I  might  have  an  interview 
with  him.  After  I  got  through  with  the  interview, 
I  invited  him  to  stay  and  witness  the  service  of 
dedication.  He  did  so,  and  manifested  great  in- 
terest in  what  he  saw  and  heard.  I  asked  him 
if  they  would  allow  us  to  come  into  Thibet.  He 
said  no,  they  did  not  want  any  Christian  mission- 
aries in  their  country,  and  insisted  they  would  not 


17-i  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

allow  it.  When  I  was  in  India,  however,  I  had 
great  joy  in  learning  that  some  of  Bishop  Tho- 
burn's  women  missionaries,  I  believe,  had  gone  into 
Thibet  from  the  other  side  of  the  great  field  and 
had  organized  Bible  and  other  work,  and  were 
quietly  pushing  the  work  of  Christ  without  this 
Lama  priest  knowing  that  such  a  thing  was  going 
on  in  his  country. 

"After  remaining  in  Chentu  for  several  days, 
I  returned  by  way  of  the  river  in  a  small  boat  in 
company  with  Dr.  McCartney  and  Dr.  Canright. 
The  distance  by  river  is  five  hundred  miles,  and 
we  made  it  with  comfort  and  safety.  When  we 
had  gone  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  we  met  our 
own  mission  boat,  which  had  been  sent  up  to  meet 
us,  and  we  dismissed  our  little  boat  and  got  into 
our  mission  boat,  and  with  more  comfortable  travel- 
ing sailed  down  the  river,  stopping  at  various 
places  where  our  missionaries  were  at  work. 

"The  annual  session  of  the  Mission  was,  of 
course,  full  of  interest  to  me,  and  it  was  so  also 
to  the  missionaries  and  native  Christians,  as  it  was 
the  first  time  a  bishop  had  ever  presided  at  their 
annual  meeting.  We  continued  in  session  five  days, 
and  the  Lord  wonderfully  blessed  us.  We  did  our 
work  carefully,  looking  after  every  interest  of  the 
Mission.  People  were  converted,  and  Sunday  was 
a  day  of  unusual  victory,  results  beginning  to  tell 
immediately  in  various  ways.  From  time  to  time 
I  have  heard  of  the  pushing  out  into  new  fields 
by  our  laborers  and  the  winning  of  new  victories. 


"The  prospect  of  success  in  this  West  China 
work  was  never  so  inviting  and  promising  as  now. 


Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia.  175 

The  Szechuen  Province,  in  which  Chentu  and 
Chung  King  arc  located,  has  forty  millions  of 
people,  all  speaking  one  dialect.  It  has  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-two  walled  cities,  and  it  has  seven 
large  cities  between  Chung  King  and  Chentu,  on 
what  is  called  the  'Great  Road,'  in  which  there  has 
never  been  a  missionary  stationed  or  doing  any 
work  until  our  Brothers  Peat  and  Cady  entered 
one  or  two  of  them.  All  the  missionaries  of  all 
the  missions,  all  told,  in  West  China  when  I  was 
there  numbered  only  one  hundred  and  fifty.  This 
for  forty-five  millions  of  people.  Chentu  is  almost 
opposite  New  York  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe. 
From  Shanghai  to  Chentu,  going  all  the  way  by 
water,  is  a  distance  of  two  thousand  miles,  one 
thousand  by  steam,  the  other  thousand  by  house- 
boat. You  will  note  that  I  went  the  thousand  miles 
by  steam,  then  five  hundred  miles  by  houseboat, 
and  then  three  hundred  miles  in  a  chair.  So  I 
went,  going  up,  eighteen  hundred  miles.  Going 
back  all  the  way  by  water,  it  was  two  thousand 
miles,  making  a  total  of  thirty-eight  hundred  miles. 
"Mrs.  Joyce  accompanied  me  everywhere,  ex- 
cept on  the  long  chair  ride  from  Chung  King  to 
Chentu.  She  remained  in  Chung  King  with  our 
good  missionaries  while  I  made  that  journey. 
While  I  was  in  Chung  King  I  had  the  privilege 
of  holding  services  for  all  the  missionaries  of  all 
the  societies  doing  work  in  that  city  and  vicinity. 
One  of  the  most  precious  services  I  have  ever  at- 
tended in  my  life  was  on  Sunday  afternoon,  when 
there  were  forty-two  missionaries  present  in  the 
parlor  of  a  Quaker  missionary.  The  persons  pres- 
ent    were     from     America,     England,     Scotland, 


176  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

Sweden,  and  Germany.  I  do  not  think  I  over- 
state the  fact,  when  I  say  that  every  soul  present 
during  that  hour  somehow  felt  that  the  Lord  of 
the  vineyard,  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  was 
present  and  did  wonderfully  bless  His  servants. 
It  was  an  hour  filled  with  precious  influences  to 
my  own  soul,  and  an  hour  the  memory  of  which 
I  shall  carry  with  me  forever.  I  feel  sure  that  all 
who  were  present  that  day,  if  they  could  speak 
in  these  lines  this  moment,  would  utter  in  substance 
what  I  have  just  said. 

"The  annual  meeting  over,  myself  and  wife 
and  the  mother  of  the  American  consul  in  Chung 
King  started  down  the  river  in  a  small  houseboat 
for  Ichang.  The  wind  was  contrary  a  great  part 
of  the  way.  Our  boat  was  not  very  heavily  loaded, 
and  it  tossed  about  quite  vigorously,  and  sometimes 
seemed  to  be  dangerously  doing  so.  We  felt, 
however,  that  we  were  always  in  the  hands  of  Him 
who  said,  'I  will  never  leave  you  nor  forsake  you.' 
The  current  is  very  swift,  and  instead  of  pulling 
the  boat  by  ropes,  as  we  had  done  going  up  the 
river,  the  men  simply  had  to  direct  it  by  rudder 
and  oar.  In  ten  days  we  made  the  distance  of  five 
hundred  miles,  tying  up  every  night.  By  this 
you  will  see  that  we  made  fifty  miles  a  day,  so 
the  current  must  have  been  remarkably  swift. 

"Reaching  Ichang  we  had  to  wait  two  or  three 
days  for  a  boat  to  take  us  down  to  Shanghai. 
This  stay  including  a  Sunday,  I  attended  a  serv- 
ice in  a  native  congregation  where  the  Scotch 
Presbyterians  were  at  work,  and  was  benefited 
greatly  by  the  service.  In  the  afternoon  I 
preached  to  the  English-speaking  people,  and  was 


Missionary  Tours  Through  Asia.  177 

greatly  pleased  to  meet  so  many  in  that  far-off 
part  of  the  world  who  remembered  God,  His  Word, 
and  His  service. 

"In  due  time  we  reached  Shanghai,  arriving 
there  on  the  15th  of  April,  making  just  four 
months  to  a  day  since  we  left  Shanghai  for  West 
China.  After  resting  a  few  days  we  left  for 
Korea,  to  begin  my  second  round.  In  all  my  jour- 
neys, from  the  time  I  left  America  until  I  re- 
turned to  it,  I  was  on  thirty-five  ocean  and  river 
steamers,  five  of  them  twice,  making  forty  jour- 
neys on  the  steamers.  I  traveled  in  all  Eastern 
Asia  during  my  work  twenty-two  thousand  miles. 
I  preached  wherever  I  had  opportunity,  conducted 
services  of  various  kinds,  such  as  revival,  Bible 
readings,  prayer-meetings,  etc.,  wherever  occasion 
offered.  I  also  lectured  a  number  of  times. 
Neither  my  wife  nor  myself  was  sick  a  single  day 
while  we  were  gone,  except  such  ailings  as  come 
from  colds,  from  which  my  wife  suffered  a  few 
days  in  Hankow.  The  two  years  I  was  in  this 
wonderful  field  are  among  the  happiest  years  of 
my  life. 

"I  would  rather  live  in  Shanghai  than  any 
other  city  of  which  I  have  any  knowledge.  Not 
because  I  could  have  every  comfort  there,  not  be- 
cause of  the  many  conveniences  that  I  might  have 
about  me,  but  because  of  the  good  I  could  do  in 
mission  work.  It  is  also  the  great  commercial  cen- 
ter of  Eastern  Asia,  what  New  York  is  commer- 
cially and  otherwise  to  the  United  States.  In  my 
judgment  we  ought  to  have  an  episcopal  residence 
12 


178  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

in  that  city.  We  ought  also  to  have  a  printing- 
press  and  a  Methodist  Book  Concern  there.  We 
ought  to  have  a  business  agent  there  to  transact  all 
our  business  for  all  our  missions  in  China.  Our 
printing-press  could  print  our  theological  books, 
our  hymn  books,  and  all  other  kinds  of  literature 
that  we  would  need  for  the  work  of  missions.  We 
could  also  have  one  paper  for  all  our  missions  in 
the  Empire.  We  have  such  a  paper  now,  designed 
for  this  purpose  and  published  at  Foochow,  but 
Shanghai  is  the  commercial  center  of  all  China. 
Our  press  and  Book  Concern  are  doing  remarkably 
good  work  at  Foochow,  but  they  could  do  still 
more  and  greater  work  if  they  were  located  at 
Shanghai. 

"When  I  finished  my  work  in  China,  instead  of 
returning  home  by  way  of  Vancouver  and  San 
Francisco,  we  came  on  around  the  world  by  way 
of  Malaysia,  India,  Palestine,  Italy,  and  England, 
and  landed  in  New  York  the  2d  day  of  April, 
1898,  having  journeyed  in  all  forty-one  thousand 
miles,  and  by  God's  blessing  kept  in  health  and 
strength,  both  my  wife  and  myself,  throughout  all 
our  long  journey." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Bishop  Joyce  and  the  Epworth  League. 

IN  the  year  1900  Bishop  Joyce  was  elected 
by  his  colleagues  on  the  Board  of  Bishops 
President  of  the  Epworth  League  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  the  quadrennium 
beginning  at  the  close  of  the  General  Conference 
of  that  year. 

It  was  an  appointment  in  harmony  with  his 
tastes  and  gifts.  His  strong  sympathies  with 
youth,  his  buoyant  and  optimistic  spirit,  and  his 
deep  spiritual  experience,  altogether  fitted  him 
peculiarly  to  become  the  leader  of  the  young  life 
of  the  Church.  The  saintly  and  catholic-spirited 
Bishop  Ninde  had  preceded  him  in  the  office. 

After  receiving  his  notification  of  this  added 
responsibility  he  went  to  the  office  of  the  editor 
of  the  Epworth  Herald  in  Chicago — where  the 
General  Conference  was  held — and  they  spent  two 
hours  in  prayer  and  counsel  together  concerning 
the  needs  of  the  young  people  of  Methodism. 

From  that  time  on  the  welfare  of  the  young 
people  of  the  Church  was  his  peculiar  care.  He 
179 


180  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

advised  with  and  inspired  their  leaders.  He  ad- 
dressed their  conventions.  He  exhorted  the  young 
people  to  high  ideals  and  attainments  in  Christian 
experience.  He  urged  them  to  be  true  to  the 
Church's  standard  concerning  worldly  amusements. 
He  pressed  on  their  attention  the  lofty  claims  of 
foreign  missionary  service.  And  he  led  hundreds 
upon  hundreds  of  them  into  that  spiritual  baptism 
which  had  so  comforted  his  own  soul  and  re-en- 
forced his  ministry.  And  in  the  International  Ep- 
worth  League  Convention  at  San  Francisco,  in 
1901,  he  preached  to  an  audience  of  nearly  ten 
thousand  Epworthians  a  sermon  of  marvelous 
power,  holding  the  vast  audience  spellbound  for 
an  hour  and  a  quarter,  and  lifting  them  to  trans- 
figuration heights. 

The  following  is  an  appeal  to  the  young  life 
of  the  Church  for  revival  effort,  made  while  he 
was  President  of  the  League  through  the  columns 
of  the  Epworth  Herald: 

"The  Coming  Revival. 
"What  Kind  of  One  Shall  it  Be? 

"The  Church  is  praying  for  a  revival.  God  is 
answering  prayer.  The  presence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  among  the  people.  The  Churches  are 
taking  on  new  strength.  The  Conferences  are 
making  encouraging  reports.  There  is  a  very 
general  opinion  that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  a  great 
spiritual  awakening.     A  revival  is  at  hand.     What 


Bishop  Joyce  and  the  Epworth  League.  181 

kind  shall  it  be?  It  is  so  much  easier  to  depend 
on  the  seen  than  it  is  upon  the  unseen,  upon  the 
human  rather  than  the  Divine,  that  we  may  thereby 
be  led  to  forget  the  important  truth  that  it  is 
not  by  the  wisdom  of  human  might,  nor  by  the 
skill  of  human  power,  but  it  is  by  the  agency  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  that  men's  consciences  are  reached 
and  awakened,  and  their  minds  enlightened  and 
persuaded,  and  their  wills  influenced  and  surren- 
dered, and  their  sins  pardoned  and  their  souls 
saved. 

"It  is  therefore  a  Scriptural  revival  we  need 
and  are  praying  for.  And  such  a  revival  is  clearly 
provided  for  in  the  Word  of  God.  Pentecost  was 
such  a  revival.  Read  Joel  ii,  1,  and  ii,  27,  28, 
29,  32.  We  must  take  into  account  the  fact  that 
God  is  always  ready  to  give  to  His  Church  the 
revival  with  its  attendant  blessings.  The  view 
that  would  limit  Him  to  set  times  as  the  only 
seasons  when  He  can  or  will  revive  His  people, 
is  not  in  harmony  with  the  teachings  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  on  the  subject.  Nor  is  the  same  in 
keeping  with  the  records  of  revivals  in  the  history 
of  the  Church  of  God. 

"Methodism  at  its  best  believes,  and  therefore 
teaches,  that  God  will  give  the  revival  and  its 
blessings  to  longing  and  prayerful  souls  anywhere, 
everywhere,  and  any  time  and  all  the  time.  If 
we  will  give  the  references  in  Joel,  and  also  in  all 
other  parts  of  God's  Word,  referring  to  this  sub- 
ject a  careful  reading,  depending  upon  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  open  the  Word  to  our  understanding, 
we  shall  see  this  truth  in  so  clear  a  light,  as  to  be 
satisfied  ever  after,  not  only  with  its  correctness, 


182  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

but  also  with  its  fullness  and  richness  and  glory. 
God  is  always  ready  to  bestow  upon  His  servants 
and  His  Church  His  very  best  spiritual  blessings. 
The  leader  called  of  God  to  blow  the  trumpet  in 
Zion  must  be  taught  of  God  by  the  Spirit.  Such 
a  leader  will  possess  the  mind  and  patience  of 
Jesus,  and  be  ruled  by  the  spirit  of  compassion. 
(Matt,  ix,  36.)  Joel  ii,  17,  makes  humiliation 
and  fervent  prayer  absolute  necessities  on  the  part 
of  God's  ministers.  The  right  study  of  Revelation 
iii,  15,  16,  will  lead  to  self  examination,  repentance, 
and  confession,  and  soon  the  spirit  of  the  New 
Testament  tenderness,  and  loving  compassion,  and 
the  fullness  of  spiritual  blessing,  will  fill  the  soul, 
and  direct  the  life.  These  experiences  and  their 
effects  are  to  go  beyond  the  ministers.  Joel  ii,  1, 
says,  "Let  all  the  inhabtants  of  the  land  tremble, 
for  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  for  it  is  nigh 
at  hand."  In  Acts  ii,  1,  we  read,  "And  when  the 
day  of  Pentecost  was  fully  come,  they  were  all  with 
one  accord  in  one  place."  We  are  not  to  suppose 
that  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  Church  will 
at  once  be  ready  to  join  such  a  company,  for  such 
purpose  and  such  results;  but,  thank  God!  there 
are  those  of  God's  people  who  carry  a  burden  of 
soul  for  the  success  of  Christ's  kingdom,  and  for 
the  victories  of  His  righteousness,  and  there  are 
those  who  lead  the  way  in  these  days  of  intense 
interest,  and  their  faith,  prayers,  and  victories  are 
bringing  many  to  their  side  to  join  them  in  this 
growing  and  widening  work.  There  may  be  those 
who  speak  against  the  few  who  groan  and  weep  in 
soul  over  the  spiritual  dearth  abroad  in  the  land, 
but  such  persons  show  thereby,  however,  that  they. 


Bishop  Joyce  and  the  Epzvorth  League.   183 

themselves  are  ignorant  of  the  Scriptural  condi- 
tions of  a  revival  of  religion. 

"Such  people  frustrate  the  grace  of  God.  This 
condition  of  revival  success  is  not  to  be  secured 
by  hunting  for  Achans  in  the  camp,  or  railing  at 
the  people.  He  who  rushes  into  the  burning  build- 
ing to  save  its  occupants  has  neither  time  nor 
heart  to  abuse  the  sleeping  inmates ;  there  is  no 
scold  in  the  man  who  is  alarmed,  and  horrified  at 
sin  and  its  consequences.  When  such  a  man  gets 
desperately  in  earnest,  the  lukewarm,  the  indiffer- 
ent, and  the  heedless  misunderstand  him,  and  de- 
ride him  and  sometimes  laugh  him  to  scorn. 

"Whoever  will  give  himself  to  the  work  of 
bringing  sinners  to  Christ,  must  do  so  with  a  des- 
peration of  purpose.  This  is  essential.  But  be 
it  known  everywhere  that  such  a  state  of  mind 
and  of  heart  can  not  be  obtained  by  any  methods 
of  human  training.  The  schools  can  neither  teach 
it  nor  confer  it.  It  can  be  obtained  only  from 
God.  Through  the  personal,  prayerful  study  of 
His  Word  and  an  absolute  abandonment  of  self  to 
God,  and  an  unreserved  dependence  upon  the  Holy 
Spirit.  This  is  neither  rant,  cant,  nor  wildfire. 
It  will  not  always  fit  into  formal  molds,  nor  will 
it  run  in  ice-bound  ruts,  nor  will  it  be  pleasing  to 
people  who  are  under  the  esthetic  influence  of  a 
heartless  and  non-responsive  formalism.  But  it 
will  be  pleasing  to  God,  and  wonderfully  helpful 
to  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  make  her  a 
power  in  drawing  men  into  the  kingdom  of  love 
and  grace.  It  will  make  a  way  for  itself,  and  it 
will  distribute  its  power  effectively  far  and  wide 
according   to   methods   which   the   fathers   of   the 


184  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

Church  understood,  for  they  had  it  and  conquered 
and  triumphed  under  it. 

"Every  minister  and  every  layman  throughout 
all  Methodism  ought  to  know  that  one  of  our  rules 
for  preachers  says,  'Be  ashamed  of  nothing  but 
sin.'  The  same  applies  to  laymen  as  well.  I  ap- 
peal to  every  Methodist  to  read  paragraph  136, 
section  3.  Also  paragraphs  137  to  142  of  the 
Discipline  of  the  Church,  and  do  this  along  with 
Joel  ii,  1,  26,  27,  28,  29,  32,  and  Acts  ii,  1-4,  and 
also  verses  12  to  21. 

"The  Spirit-taught  souls  will  see  wondrous 
things  in  these  truths,  and  will  discover  equip- 
ments of  power  for  service  that  will  mean  revivals 
of  religion  according  to  Bible  provision  that  will 
bring  people  in  great  multitudes  to  Christ  for  sal- 
vation from  sin  and  for  the  fullest  and  richest 
blessings  of  His  love. 

"Such  a  salvation  movement  is  now  at  hand. 
It  is  at  our  doors.  I  rejoice  and  thank  God  that 
our  Epworth  League  army  has  already  entered 
into  the  work  with  a  heroic  faith  that  means  vic- 
tory along  the  entire  line ;  and  already  Christ,  the 
Head  of  the  Church,  is  giving  them  some  glorious 
victories.  I  pray  that  this  Army  of  }Toung  people 
will  continue  to  go  steadily  and  prayerfully  for- 
ward to  the  movement  of  final  victory  and  broadest 
triumph,  and  even  more  than  the  two  millions  of 
souls  shall  be  won  for  Christ  and  for  the  best  life 
in  His  service." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Decoration-day  Address  Delivered  at  Chat- 
tanooga, May  30,  1895. 

THIS  day  is  full  of  interest  to  us  all.  Mem- 
ories precious  and  tender  are  revived  in 
many  thousands  of  hearts  throughout  the 
land.  The  eyes  grow  dim,  through  gathering 
tears,  as  memory  is  busy  with  the  scenes  crowded 
into  the  years  long  gone  by.  Voices  grow  tremu- 
lous as  the  names  of  dear  ones  come  to  the  lips; 
the«  mental  vision  pierces  through  the  shadows  that 
gather  over  the  years,  and  the  forms  of  loved  ones 
are  seen  walking  again  the  familiar  paths  that 
lead  up  to  the  dear  old  home  of  the  long  ago.  We 
join  them  in  our  affection,  and  hold  converse  with 
them  once  more  in  the  intensely  yearning  love 
of  our  hearts. 

Men  die,  but  their  influence  lives.  Death  brings 
them  to  the  grave,  but  what  they  did  in  life  tells 
the  world  the  kind  of  men  they  were. 

Death  deprives  men  of  their  wealth,  but  the 
work  they  wrought  while  living  constitutes  an 
imperishable  monument  that  will,  ages  long,  reveal 
185 


186  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

what  were  the  supreme,  and  therefore  the  ruling, 
purposes  of  their  lives,  and  the  motives  which  were 
the  ground-work  of  their  ambition.  Men  are  ex- 
pressions of  possibilities,  of  that  which  may  be; 
they  stand  for  influences,  expressive  of  principles, 
the  power  of  which  is  felt  along  the  lines  of  hu- 
manity, and  lie  in  the  pathway  of  the  centuries. 
Men  of  high-grade  character,  of  exalted  motives, 
governed  by  the  law  of  self-sacrifice — these  are 
the  men  who  build  great  governments,  create  best 
civilization,  and,  if  need  be,  are  willing  to  die  for 
the  sake  of  a  great  principle,  which  will  result  in 
good  to  mankind.  The  works  of  such  men  follow 
them  and  influence  generations  of  peoples,  and 
shape  institutions  with  the  highest  expression  of 
the  best  power  that  ever  comes  to  men  out  of  the 
Divine  fullness.  Such  men  deserve  the  admiration 
and  are  entitled  to  the  loving  remembrance  of 
mankind. 

God  provides  for  the  founding,  the  growth, 
and  the  career  of  nations ;  they  are  the  things  that 
must  be,  they  are  the  necessities  in  the  education 
of  men,  and  in  the  needed  character-building  of 
the  generations  of  the  human  family,  and  in  the 
development  or  unfolding  of  God's  plans  for  men 
as  the  ages  come  on. 

We  have  a  right  to  believe  that  this  nation  of 
ours  is  a  child  of  Providence.     The  time  and  man- 


Decoration-Day  Address.  187 

ner  of  founding  it,  the  struggles  passed,  the  his- 
tory made,  the  work  done,  the  influence  achieved, 
the  position  won ;  these  indicate  some  of  the  rea- 
sons why  we  have  the  right  to  believe,  yea,  why 
we  are  authorized  to  believe,  this  nation  came  into 
being  because  God  willed  it;  and  it  lives,  and  has 
a  future  and  a  mission  because  He  is  over  it,  and 
wills  the  same:  the  pathway  along  which  our  na- 
tion has  come  is  conspicuously  marked  by  institu- 
tions, monuments,  battle-fields,  and  heroes'  resting- 
places.  In  the  ranks  of  its  people  are  the  evi- 
dences of  struggles  which  fade  not  away ;  they  are 
broken  semi-circles,  crippled  bodies,  desolate  hearts, 
burdened  souls,  care-worn  faces,  and  tearful  eyes. 

The  nation  lives  because  its  countless  thou- 
sands of  manly  men  went  to  their  graves  for  it  by 
way  of  the  weary  march,  the  bloody  fields  of  battle, 
the  hospital,  and  the  prison:  but  these  men  are 
not  forgotten;  a  grateful  republic  lovingly  en- 
shrines in  the  hearts  of  its  people,  as  a  sacred 
trust,  the  memory  of  its  heroic  defenders,  and 
annually  the  surviving  comrades  of  these  hero  dead 
come  together,  and  with  gentle  hands  cover  the 
sleeping  forms  with  flowers — Nature's  best  expres- 
sion of  love. 

Bolingbroke  said :  "Neither  Montaigne  in  writ- 
ing his  essays,  nor  Descartes  in  building  new 
worlds,   nor   Burnet    in    framing   an    antediluvian 


188  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

earth,  nor  Newton  in  discovering  the  true  laws  of 
nature,  felt  more  intellectual  joys  than  he  feels 
who  is  a  real  patriot,  who  bends  all  the  forces 
of  his  understanding,  and  directs  all  his  thoughts 
and  actions  to  the  good  of  his  country."  The  most 
enlightened  patriotism  of  all  lands  approves  the 
statements  of  this  gifted  and  far-seeing  thinker 
and  writer. 

From  the  spring  of  1861  to  the  year  1865 
the  great  question  with  Americans  was  that  of 
patriotic  devotion  to  the  principles  of  civil  lib- 
erty in  the  republic  as  guaranteed  by  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  nation.  During  that  period  of 
four  years  of  war,  more  than  one-half  a  million 
of  men  went  to  heroes'  graves  from  the  battle- 
field, the  camp,  and  the  hospital.  But — patriot- 
ism came  out  of  the  awful  struggle  in  triumph, 
and  those  who  gave  sturdy  blows  for  the  nation's 
honor,  and  who  stood  for  the  defense  of  freedom's 
flag  came  through  the  conflict — heroes — the  equals 
of  any  men  that  ever  in  the  history  of  mankind 
braved  the  dangers  of  war  for  the  love  and  de- 
fense of  a  great  principle. 

Every  pure  sentiment  of  the  human  heart  says, 
"Let  love's  choicest  gifts  express  a  nation's  deep- 
est affection  for  those  who,  as  Montgomery  would 
have  it, 

11 '  "Went  down  like  favorite  children  to  hurtle  in  the  lap 
of  glory.'  " 


Decoration-Day  Address.  189 

Their  names  will  recall  multitudes  of  precious 
memories;  thoughts  of  past  scenes  and  loved  ones 
will  set  to  vibrating  chords  that  will  cause  the  eyes 
to  overflow  with  tears.  To  die  for  a  nation's  honor 
is  to  go  to  a  martyr's  grave  for  the  supremacy 
of  a  principle  and  the  uplifting  of  the  people; 
the  result  gives  new  life  to  the  republic,  and  in- 
creases the  greatness  of  the  nation,  and  mankind 
is  enriched  by  the  influence  of  such  consecrated 
devotion,  and  the  higher  nature  of  men  is  edu- 
cated,— disciplined — by  the  matchless,  peerless 
power  of  such  object  lessons. 

Unselfish  and  far-reaching  deeds  take  deep  hold 
upon  our  hearts  and  our  memories;  we  can  not 
forget  them;  their  influence  makes  us  think  better 
of  our  race;  they  give  us  a  conviction  of  the 
power  of  righteousness,  and  faith  in  the  final  vic- 
tory of  right  over  wrong,  of  truth  over  error; 
this  is  the  mighty  and  the  enduring  link  which 
unites  and  holds  together  the  generations  of  men, 
and  those  who  come  after  us  will  do  as  we  are 
doing,  they  will  honor  the  memory  of  the  nation's 
defenders,  and  they  will  annually  cover  their  graves 
with  flowers,  and  children's  children  will  be  told 
the  story  of  the  sacrifices  and  of  the  dying  of 
these  patriotic  martyrs. 

"Leonidas  and  his  regiment  of  three  hundred 
immortal  and  invincible  Spartans  died,  more  than 


190  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

two  thousand  years  ago,  at  Thermopylae,  with  their 
faces  to  the  foe,  but  their  glorious  achievement 
again  and  again  through  the  centuries  has  nerved 
the  arm  of  the  patriot  upon  many  a  battle-field 
when  measuring  dangers  and  bravely  meeting  them 
against  overwhelming  foes." 

"So  along  down  the  way  of  the  centuries — 
yea,  it  may  be  along  the  pathway  of  the  length- 
ened ages,  men  and  youth  will  gather  inspiration 
from  the  history  of  our  conflicts,  from  the  story 
of  our  battle-fields,  from  the  deeds  of  our  noble 
patriot  dead,  to  nerve  and  to  inspire  and  strengthen 
them  for  the  conflicts  which  they  may  be  called 
upon  to  take  part  in. 

"So  long  as  there  is  an  Antietam,  a  Gettys- 
burg, a  Wilderness,  a  Vicksburg,  a  Chickamauga, 
a  Lookout  Mountain,  a  Richmond,  and  a  March 
to  the  Sea,  aye,  so  long  as  there  is  a  soldier  with 
an  empty  sleeve,  or  one  that  trudges  along  life's 
dusty  way  by  aid  of  crutch  or  cane — because  he 
left  a  leg  on  some  blood}'  battle-field, — so  long  as 
there  is  the  widow  of  a  dead  soldier,  who  wishes 
for  the  coming  of  her  loved  one,  but  he  comes  not 
again,  so  long  as  there  may  be  the  orphaned  child 
of  the  hero  dead,  who  in  evening  twilight  sits  and 
yearns  for  just  one  more  look  into  father's  face, 
although  he  knows  it  can  not  be,  aye,  so  long  as 
this   nation   shall   stand,   let   not   loyal   Americans 


Decoration-Day  Address.  191 

forget  the  men  who  for  love  of  country  willingly, 
cheerfully  died,  that  the  republic  might  continue 
to  live  and  be  a  light  and  a  blessing  to  all. 

Government — nationality — is  a  necessity  with 
all  people,  and  under  the  influence  of  the  best, 
men  rise  to  the  purest  and  the  wisest  political  influ- 
ence, to  the  highest  mental  development,  as  well 
as  to  the  truest  Christian  character.  Mind  is  al- 
ways stronger  and  better,  the  more  closely  and  in- 
tensely it  is  applied  in  the  labor  of  great  think- 
ing, in  the  processes  of  trying  to  solve  hard  prob- 
lems; and  the  nation  which  is  able,  by  the  genius 
of  its  laws  and  the  provisions  of  its  constitution 
and  under  the  leadership  of  wise  men,  to  keep  the 
brain  of  its  people  employed  upon  subjects  of 
great  practical  value,  will,  in  the  sum  total  of 
results  which  go  to  make  a  people's  history,  become 
the  wisest,  the  best,  and  the  most  influential  nation. 

It  will  be  able  to  discover  and  bring  into  use 
those  virtues  which  lift  a  people  to  the  heights 
of  the  best  civilization. 

"For  practical  purposes,  new  application  of  old 
truths  is  equal  to  the  discovery  of  new  ones." 

Men  have  done  well  in  building  nations,  in 
making  civilizations.  Man  started  with  nothing, 
without  a  home,  without  village  or  city,  an  un- 
subdued earth,  with  but  little  knowledge  of  the 
world   he   was   in.      He   stood   facing   a   destiny, 


192  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

which  he  feared  more  than  he  understood.  But 
look  along  the  lines  of  history,  and  the  centuries 
tell  of  the  unfoldings  of  his  powers  and  the  results 
of  his  skill.  Cities,  states,  nations,  monuments, 
libraries,  institutions,  and  civilization  mark  the  way 
of  his  power  in  all  lands  and  in  all  time.  Take  a 
survey  of  the  status  to-day ;  he  is  this  day  more  in 
himself,  and  more  in  the  breadths  and  heights  of 
his  achievements,  than  at  any  former  moment,  hour, 
or  century  of  his  history.  He  is  master  to-day. 
He  has  solved  the  problems  of  earth  and  air  and 
sky,  he  sails  all  seas,  he  ascends  all  rivers,  he  climbs 
all  mountains,  he  explores  all  continents,  he  trav- 
erses all  depths,  he  measures  all  heights,  he  studies 
all  languages,  he  masters  all  laws,  he  examines  all 
mysteries ;  his  cities  are  marvels  for  greatness,  in 
wealth,  in  influence,  and  in  power;  his  inventions 
and  his  discoveries  show  that  in  the  embodiment 
of  his  power  and  in  the  possibilities  of  his  great- 
ness he  stands  a  king,  as  one  akin  to  the  Divine. 
Behold  him  this  day,  as  he  stands  in  the  results 
of  his  mighty  and  his  far-reaching  inventions,  in 
the  continent  sweeping  power  of  his  combinations, 
in  the  thought  lines  of  his  genius  that  girdle  the 
globe  on  which  he  lives. 

Surely  he  is,  in  view  of  this  exhibited  vastness 
of  his  power,  entitled  to  a  high  place  in  the  sweep 
of  ages.     Such  a  being  must  have  a  nation.     He 


Decoration-Day  Address.  193 

will,  by  the  inherent  power  within  him,  build  for 
the  centuries,  for  it  is  a  great  manhood,  present 
and  possible,  under  Divine  guidance  and  instruc- 
tion, on  its  way  through  the  ages,  facing  hope- 
fully the  steadily  unfolding  and  endless  future. 
It  is  just  as  essential  that  he  build  and  possess 
a  nation  as  it  is  that  he  have  a  house  in  which 
to  live,  a  home  for  the  shelter  and  protection  of 
his  family.  And  when  the  nation  has  for  its  foun- 
dation the  principles  of  righteousness  and  justice, 
it  is  by  that  fact  as  worthy  a  subject  of  prayer 
and  defense  as  is  the  home. 

Nations  have  problems  to  solve  peculiar  to  the 
places  they  occupy  in  the  centuries,  and  their  geo- 
graphical location  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  God 
works  His  plans  to  final  and  effective  results 
through  the  agency  of  the  nations;  He  has  no 
more  trouble  to  give  a  nation  a  mission,  than  He 
has  in  giving  a  single  man  a  work  to  do.  If 
either  does  anything  worthy  a  name  and  a  place 
in  history,  it  is  because  there  is  a  Divine  wisdom 
that  plans  the  work  for  both,  and  a  Love  infinite 
in  its  nearness  and  tenderness  to  inspire  both  for 
the  same. 

The  place  and  surroundings  of  our  nation  in- 
dicate that  God  has  no  merely  ordinary  work  for 
it  to  do.  We  are  in  the  best  center  for  a  great 
nation  to  be  built,  and  in  due  time  do  a  work 
13 


194  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

which  will  lead  to  a  destiny  greater  than  that  ever 
yet  reached  by  another.  Our  area  of  territory  is 
greater  than  that  of  any  country  except  Russia. 
"Two  great  oceans  receive  the  waters  and  the 
commerce  of  the  rivers  which  touch  every  part 
of  our  land,  and  in  turn  something  from  every 
part  of  the  world  is  brought  to  our  very  doors." 
Here  is  the  place  for  a  nation  greater  than  any 
known  to  history,  and  results  already  achieved  in- 
dicate its  mission  to  be  to  work  out  a  better  des- 
tiny for  humanity  than  has  yet  been  reached. 

Here,  if  anywhere  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 
principles  taught  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  are 
to  have  a  practical  application  in  the  solution  of 
problems  of  government,  and  all  other  questions 
which  can  enter  into  the  life  and  work  of  a  nation. 
Here,  if  anywhere,  is  to  be  shown  by  practical  il- 
lustrations how  the  welfare  of  men  is  secured,  and 
how  the  rights  of  all  men  are  guarded  by  the  jus- 
tice and  the  great-heartedness  of  the  nation's  laws. 

If  American  history  has  a  meaning  of  any- 
thing more  than  the  mere  record  of  events,  or  de- 
scription of  battle-fields  and  their  bloody  scenes 
and  the  victories  for  the  nation's  flag,  it  is  that 
after  defending  the  unity  of  the  nation,  and  then 
securing  the  same,  there  are  other  questions  which 
have  arisen  and  are  now  confronting  us,  and  which 
by  their  nature  can  not  be  bowed  out  of  the  arena, 
and  they  refuse  to  be  pushed  aside. 


Decoration-Day  Address.  195 

The  influence  of  our  brave  dead  is  about  us; 
the  atmosphere  of  their  devotion  pervades  our 
homes,  and  is  felt  through  all  the  ranks  of  soci- 
ety and  of  commercial  relations,  and  the  voice 
which  comes  to  us  upon  its  currents  is  the  voice 
of  that  Providence  that  speaks  in  events,  and  re- 
veals the  trend  of  His  will  in  the  epochs  that  make 
history. 

God  has  lifted  to  the  eyes  of  nations  great 
principles.  He  commands  men  to  study  and  apply 
them,  to  love  them,  to  obey  and  build  them  into 
individual  and  into  national  organic  life.  They 
cover  all  life ;  obeying  them  is  elevation,  purity, 
and  power;  disobeying  them,  individual  debase- 
ment and  national  degradation  follow. 

"Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy." 
"Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy 
God  in  vain."  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart."  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself." 

What  would  the  record  show  covering  these 
things?  Desecrations,  blasphemies,  and  trans- 
gressions so  abound  that  in  places  refinement  and 
purity  blush  and  hide  their  faces. 

Greed  and  selfishness  and  wrongly  used  power 
put  forth  their  hands  now  and  again  with  alarm- 
ing effect  upon  the  less  fortunate.  Practices  that 
lead  men  into  wrong  paths  grow  with  a  rapidity, 
and  at  an  expense   of  brain  and  conscience   and 


196  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

fortune  that  are  truly  prophetic  of  the  widest  dis- 
asters. 

These  and  other  things  which  spring  grave 
questions  upon  us  constitute  some  of  the  problems 
which  at  this  moment  are  confronting  us  as  a 
people.  We  must  meet  the  issues  which  they 
crowd  upon  us. 

Have  we,  as  a  people  great  in  our  nationality, 
enough  moral  courage  and  power  to  overcome  all 
these  evils  of  which  I  have  spoken,  and  which  carry 
in  their  expression  so  much  of  alarm?  Can  we 
break  their  influence  and  free  ourselves  from  them? 
I  believe  I  voice  the  convictions  and  the  faith  of 
right  thinking  men  when  I  say  we  can,  and  that 
we  will.  We  can  always  depend  upon  the  bedrock 
common  sense,  the  courage  and  devotion  of  the 
American  people,  when  we  reach  the  last  stages  of 
a  great  crisis  in  our  national  condition.  They 
have  never  failed  us  yet  in  our  history,  they  have 
ever  been  true  at  the  emergent  moment  of  every 
great  emergency.  I  dare  believe  they  will  be  in 
all  the  coming  years  in  the  life  of  this  republic. 

Since  the  year  1865  the  elements  of  a  new  civ- 
ilization have  been  gradually  manifesting  their 
presence  and  making  known  their  influence  among 
the  people  of  this  nation,  and  these  elements  are 
persistently  pushing  themselves  into  every  part  of 
the  land,  and  they  are  felt  in  every  abode  of  man, 


Decoration-Day  Address.  197 

from  lakes  to  Gulf,  from  Atlantic  Ocean  to  Pa- 
cific waters.  Every  hut,  cabin  abode,  and  home 
of  wealth  experiences  something  this  day  of  their 
uplifting  inspiration. 

Childhood  is  wiser,  manhood  is  stronger,  and 
old  age  is  happier. 

A  spirit,  as  if  out  of  the  open  heavens,  has 
come  down  among  the  people,  and  they  have  been 
inspired  and  by  it  lifted  up  and  carried  forward 
at  such  a  rate  that  it  is  not  easy  for  us  to  esti- 
mate the  progress  we  have  as  a  nation  made  since 
1865,  nor  the  rate  we  are  making  to-day  at  winch 
we  are  going  forward. 

The  material  activity  everywhere  manifest,  is 
a  showing  of  the  presence  of  intellectual  giants 
abroad  in  the  land.  A  thoughtful  writer  says, 
"We  have  railroad  lines  sufficient  in  number  to 
reach  almost  seven  times  around  the  earth."  Their 
annual  earnings  reach  up  into  the  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions of  dollars. 

The  telegraph  companies  of  the  country  are 
operating  wires  enough  to  reach  around  the  globe 
thirty  times. 

"We  have  telephone  wires  now  in  use  of  suffi- 
cient length  to  reach  eight  times  around  the  earth." 

We  are  in  contact  with  the  heart-beats  and 
brain-throbs  of  the  peoples  of  all  the  islands  and 
all  the  continents  upon  the  face  of  this  earth. 


198  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

The  activities  are  equally  great  on  the  moral 
side  of  this  nineteenth-century  life.  The  great 
universities  and  colleges  are  crowded  with  the 
young  manhood  and  the  young  womanhood — the 
great  young  life — of  this  nation.  The  institutions 
of  learning  of  all  grades  are  too  limited  in  ac- 
commodations to  receive  the  multitudes  of  Amer- 
ica's children  that  crowd  their  way  to  their  doors 
asking  for  that  training  to  fit  them  for  the  scenes, 
and  the  labors,  the  responsibilities  and  the  crises 
that  await  them  as  citizens  in  this  great  republic. 

The  Churches  have  in  their  pulpits  men,  many 
of  whom  have  received  the  best  intellectual  train- 
ing possible  for  men  to  receive,  and  they  are  using 
that  disciplined  and  consecrated  ability  to  go  into 
every  grade  of  society,  and  out  of  their  love  for 
humanity  and  their  love  to  God  persuade  the 
humblest  and  the  most  obscure  life  to  look  upward 
and  God- ward. 

The  Sunday-school  army  numbers  millions  of 
children  passing  under  the  magic  touch  of  Holy 
Scripture  communicated  by  lips  from  hearts  in 
touch  with  the  Christ. 

The  Christian  press  is  in  the  front  line  with 
cultured  brain,  high  purpose,  and  a  holy  passion 
to  give  the  most  inspiring  truths  to  every  home 
in  our  land. 

The  closing  years  of  the  century  throb  with 


Decoration-Day  Address.  199 

the  high  purposes  of  the  best  men  and  women  of 
the  age. 

The  best  womanly  character  known  to  history- 
is,  in  these  days  of  mighty  movements,  devoting 
itself  to  lifting  up  the  fallen,  helping  the  needy, 
instructing  the  ignorant,  persuading  the  wayward 
to  come  home  to  the  Heavenly  Father.  She  is 
this  hour  heaven's  messenger  to  carry  hope  and 
good  cheer  everywhere.  But  great  as  all  this  is, 
the  hour  rings  with  calls  for  men  of  yet  greater 
moral  courage  and  power  to  go  into  the  arena, 
and  do  a  work  that  cries  to  heaven  for  relief. 

By  the  hundred  thousands  men  gave  them- 
selves to  the  defense  of  the  dear  old  flag  and  to 
save  the  nation  from  dismemberment  and  ruin. 
Without  a  moment's  hesitation  they  went  to  scenes 
of  carnage  and  stood  amid  shot  and  shell  and  flame, 
and  fought  and  won  for  freedom. 

But  the  battle-fields  of  the  republic,  the  graves 
where  sleep  our  honored  dead,  in  addition  to  flag, 
and  union,  and  liberty,  and  nation  mean  also  jus- 
tice, righteousness,  the  Golden  Rule,  and  all  the 
virtues  taught  in  the  Holy  Book;  these  are  some 
of  the  momentous  questions  that  followed  in  the 
wake  of  the  hour  when  in  1865  our  dear  old  flag — 
the  Stars  and  Stripes — went  once  more  to  the  top 
of  the  mast  o'er  all  this  land,  never  to  come  down 
again.     These  are  the  problems  we  have  to  solve. 


200  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

These  are  the  battles  we  must  fight.  Chickamauga 
— Gettysburg — Richmond — the  Wilderness  —  the 
March  to  the  Sea  meant  courage — blood — death; 
but  these  other  problems  that  follow  in  the  wake 
of  bloody  fields  are  the  most  tug  and  tussle  con- 
flict— battle  of  thought  with  thought,  brain  with 
brain,  heart  with  heart,  pen  with  pen,  dollar  with 
dollar;  the  field  covers  the  nation;  the  enemies' 
hiding-places  are  in  the  hearts,  brains,  homes  of 
the  people.  These  enemies  are  in  saloons,  the 
gaming  places,  in  poison-dripping  literature — and 
in  the  spirits  of  hate,  deception,  jealousy  and  envy. 
These  constitute  the  battle  of  this  day;  have  we 
the  courage  to  march  into  the  heart  of  the  conflict, 
and  with  manly  words,  brave  deeds,  and  with 
Christly  spirit  do  and  dare  the  best  we  can  to 
bring  the  kingdom  of  God  to  earth,  and  establish 
it,  with  its  love,  peace,  joy,  purity,  in  the  hearts 
and  homes  of  the  peoples  of  our  land?  Tins  is  not 
an  hour's  nor  a  day's  conflict. 

O  men  of  a  hundred  battle-fields,  where  you 
stood  so  grandly  for  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  will 
you  not,  as  you  have  helped  save  the  nation  from 
civil  disruption,  will  you  not  help  to  save  it  from 
evils  which  now  imperil  its  peace  and  its  prosperity, 
which  threaten  its  moral  purity  and  its  stability, 
which  menace  its  homes,  its  character,  its  every  in- 
terest which  a  brave  patriot  and  a  devout  Chris- 
tian loves  so  devoutly? 


Decoration-Day  Address.  201 

Grand  Army  of  the  Republic — noble  men — 
well  nigh  a  million  strong,  the  voice  that  called 
you  in  the  days  of  your  young  manhood  to  follow 
the  flag  of  your  country,  to  fight  its  battles  and 
win  its  victories,  that  same  blessed  voice  this  day 
calls  you  to  wage  a  ceaseless  warfare  in  the  name 
of  the  Holy  One  against  every  evil  and  form  of 
wrong  which  threaten  the  best  good  of  our  nation. 
There  is  no  question  about  the  outcome;  victory 
will  come,  and  the  victors  will  have  again  God's 
blessing  and  heaven's  reward;  for  more  than  these 
Gabriel  would  not  ask. 

We  ought  to  do  these  things  for  our  own 
nation's  sake  and  its  security,  and  for  the  sake  of 
nations  about  us,  for  the  eyes  of  all  peoples  of  all 
nations  are  turned  this  way,  and  they  have  a  feel- 
ing that  humanity  has  an  interest  in  this  land 
of  ours. 

The  greatness  of  the  interests  committed  to 
the  keeping  of  this  free  nation  is  sufficient  reason 
for  the  massing  of  the  great  moral  forces  of  the 
land,  to  hold  the  nation  in  the  strength  of  God's 
favor  for  the  triumphs  of  righteousness.  Ac- 
knowledgment of  God  is  the  strength  of  a  nation, 
and  the  practice  of  His  precepts  is  the  salvation 
of  governments.  The  people  that  in  their  prin- 
ciples and  elements  of  nationality  are  the  nearest 
God's  idea  of  things  are  on  their  way  to  the  great- 


202  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

est  victories  possible  to  be  won,  and  the  hands  on 
their  dial  plates  will  never   go  backward. 

"France  tried  for  a  time  to  get  along  without 
God,  but  Napoleon,  for  the  good  of  the  State, 
restored  religion  to  the  people."  "When  the  Prime 
Minister  of  Louis  Philippe  was  dying,  he  said, 
'France  must  have  religion.'  " 

So  must  every  nation,  no  matter  what  the 
form  of  government. 

Our  Ship  of  State  has  sailed  some  stormy  seas, 
but  in  the  darkest  hour,  when  we  cried  unto  Him, 
we  found  Him  guiding  us  through  the  darkness 
and  the  storm.  And  so  long  as  we  are  true  to 
Him,  He  will  continue  to  shape  our  course,  and 
take  us  safely  unto  the  desired  haven. 

I  have  an  abiding  conviction  that  this  country 
of  ours,  more  than  any  other,  represents  much 
of  the  future  of  mankind,  and  one  of  my  strongest 
reasons  for  my  belief  is,  we  can  do  more  for  the 
man — the  individual  here,  than  can  be  done  for 
him  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  He  can  get 
more  here  than  in  any  other  nation.  Matthew 
Arnold  says,  "America  holds  the  future." 

Even  with  all  the  obstacles  in  our  way,  and 
the  difficulties  which  beset  us,  we  can  at  this  hour 
show  the  best  average  citizen  character  to  be  found 
in  any  country. 

Some  one  has  said,  "Let  us  remember  we  speak 


Decoration-Day  Address.  203 

the  language  of  great  ideas,  hence  the  language 
of  the  future." 

"It  makes  a  great  difference  what  language 
a  people  speaks,  what  songs  they  sing,  what  re- 
ligion they  have."  A  thoughtful  writer  says,  "A 
nation  that  speaks  the  language  of  Shakespeare 
and  of  Milton  can  never  be  ground  under  the  heel 
of  a  tyrant." 

Let  us  also  remember,  the  people  who  read 
the  Bible,  think  its  thoughts,  imbibe  its  spirit,  ex- 
perience its  religion,  practice  its  precepts,  live  in 
its  atmosphere,  and  cling  to  God,  its  Author,  can 
never  be  conquered  by  any  power  on  earth,  nor 
overthrown  by  any  sort  of  influence  known  among 
men. 

Under  some  such  power  as  this  we  have  come 
out  of  every  ordeal  through  which  we  have  passed, 
and  we  look  back  now  to  the  dark  days  from  1861 
to  1865,  and  without  any  hesitation  whatever  say, 
"God  brought  us  through."  No  other  power 
could  have  delivered  us.  Victory  came  on  His 
plan,  and  at  the  last  union  and  peace  were  restored 
throughout  the  land;  we  thank  God  for  it,  and 
devoutly  pray  they  may  abide  forever.  The  con- 
flict was  the  struggle  of  giants.  The  contest  was 
the  mightiest  onset  of  opposing  armies,  made  up 
of  the  best  blood  and  brains  and  muscle  and  char- 
acter that  ever  entered  into  battle  over  a  great 


204  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

principle  in  the  life  of  a  nation.  The  American 
soldier  stands  forth  to-day  in  the  record  he  has 
made,  the  peer  of  any  soldier  of  any  land  or  nation. 

But  the  price  we  paid  for  the  unity  and  the 
peace  of  the  nation  was  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  lives,  and  these  services  can  only  be  a  feeble 
expression  of  our  appreciation  of,  and  our  love 
for  the  honored  dead,  and  for  what  they  accom- 
plished for  us.  We  owe  them  a  debt  we  can  never 
fully  pay.  Their  dying  was  the  price  of  blessings 
which  enrich  us  this  day,  and  it  is  our  duty  to 
make  the  story  of  their  sacrifice  a  source  of  per- 
petual benediction  to  the  nation  and  to  the  world. 

No  graves  were  ever  more  eloquent  than  these 
graves  of  our  heroes.  They  speak  to  us  of  cour- 
age, of  duty,  of  the  grandeur  of  a  great  mission. 

They  who  live  to  great  purpose  always  fill  a 
larger  sphere  than  the  local  circle  of  their  indi- 
vidual lives. 

You  may  have  stood  in  a  plain  hall,  and  read 
the  news  of  the  men  who  thought  out  and  uttered 
the  proclamation  of  American  independence;  per- 
sonally not  one  of  them  did  you  know,  but  in  their 
deeds  they  are  immortal  and  known  to  all  the 
world.  So  with  these  hero  brothers  of  ours,  whose 
deeds  and  memory  we  love  to  cherish  because  they 
gave  their  lives  for  the  defense  of  the  principles 
uttered  in  the  declaration  of  American  independ- 
ence.    A  new  generation  has  come  upon  the  stage 


Decoration-Day  Address.  205 

since  they  fell,  and  the  time  will  come  when  not 
one  will  be  living  who  took  part  in  the  conflict  of 
arms,  nor  will  one  remain  who  knew  any  one  of 
these  men,  but  what  these  heroes  did,  in  the  sacri- 
fice they  made,  in  the  results  they  achieved,  has 
passed  into  history  to  be  read  by  succeeding  gener- 
ations, and  this  nation  will  stand  as  a  monument 
to  their  memory.  In  every  national  cemetery  in 
the  land  will  be  found  on  many  a  headstone  the 
word  "Unknown ;"  but  whether  known  or  unknown, 
the  American  people  will  always  remember  their 
deeds  of  valor,  nor  will  they  ever  cease  to  cherish 
their  memory,  and  they  will  live  in  song — in  his- 
tory— in  monuments — in  great  institutions,  and  in 
this  mighty  republic  that  has  a  mission  to  lead 
the  world  in  the  greatest  enterprises  that  charac- 
terize a  people  for  the  moral  and  intellectual  wel- 
fare of  mankind. 

Annually  during  all  the  coming  years  these 
services  will  be  held,  and  gifts  of  flowers  from  lov- 
ing hearts  will  be  strewn  by  gentle  hands  o'er  the 
mounds  where  sleep  the  nation's  honored  dead. 
Our  government  honors  itself  in  the  beautiful  and 
tender  way  it  makes  provision  for  the  care  of  its 
hero  dead.  No  other  nation  has  done  so  much  as 
ours  has  done  to  show  its  appreciation  of  and  love 
for  the  men  who  gave  their  lives  for  the  nation's 
life.  All  honor  to  the  brain  and  heart  of  this 
great  republic  for  the  loving  care  it  shows  for  its 


206  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

yet  living  defenders,  and  for  the  love  and  honor 
it  bestows  on  the  memory  of  those  who  braved 
everything  and  died  for  the  nation's  life,  unity, 
and  perpetuity. 

To  this  sacred  place  we  come  this  day  to  honor 
the  memory  of  our  nation's  dead,  and  with  a  loyal 
poet  say: 

Cover  them  over— the  brave  and  the  true ; 

Cover  them  over — the  Boys  of  the  Blue ; 

Husband  and  brother,  father  and  lover, 

Cover  them  over,  cover  them  over: 

Cover  them  over — the  brave  and  the  true, 
Cover  them  over — our  Boys  of  the  Blue. 

Cover  them  over  with  silence  and  weeping, 
Cover  the  dust  that  lies  here  in  our  keeping ; 
Graves  of  the  youthful  and  graves  of  the  old, 
Cover  with  flowers  of  crimson  and  gold : 

Cover  them  over — the  brave  and  the  true, 
Cover  them  over — our  Boys  of  the  Blue. 

Cover  them  over  with  fragrance  and  beauty, 
Cover  the  hushed  hearts  that  shrank  not  from  duty ; 
Men  of  the  battle-field  ghastly  and  gory, 
Cover  them  over — these  men  in  their  glory. 
Cover  them  over — the  brave  and  the  true, 
Cover  them  over — our  army  of  blue. 

Men  of  a  nation  in  darkness  and  danger, 
Sick,  bleeding,  dying,  in  land  of  the  stranger, 
Our  fond  hearts  shall  cherish  a  love  that  is  true, 
For  all  who  gave  life  for  the  Red,  White,  and  Blue. 
And  long  as  that  banner  shall  symbol  our  pride, 
We  '11  garland  the  graves  of  our  heroes  that  died. 


Decoration-Day  Address.  207 

0  men  of  the  nation  !  0  men  of  the  blue  ! 
Out  from  the  heart  comes  a  requiem  for  you, 
From  hilltop  and  valley,  from  prairie  and  sea, 
The  shout  of  the  millions:  One  nation  are  we! 
No  more  may  war's  reveille  open  the  day, 
But  peace  wreathes  her  chaplet  forever  and  aye. 

Peace  !  peace  to  your  ashes,  O  men  of  the  Blue ! 
Over  each  mound  falls  our  love  like  the  dew: 
Round  you  we  gather  to-day  in  our  pride, 
With  honor  to  all  who  for  country  have  died. 
Sleep  !  sleep !  till  the  waking  calls  to  arise, 
And  join  with  the  army  of  blue  in  the  skies. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

His  Religious  Experience. 

THE  conversion  of  Bishop  Joyce  has  been 
described  in  a  previous  chapter.  Some- 
thing of  the  depth  and  genuineness  of  his 
religious  life  has  been  inferred  from  the  narrative 
of  his  labors  and  utterances.  But  so  important 
a  part  did  personal  religious  experience  have  in 
his  success  as  a  pastor  and  bishop,  and  so  marked 
was  the  experimental  emphasis  in  his  preaching, 
as  that  the  subject  merits  distinct  treatment. 

The  great  fundamental  of  his  religious  life 
was  his  conversion.  So  clear  and  definite  was  that 
experience  that  he  never  doubted  it.  He  loved  to 
refer  to  it.  Undoubtedly  it  was  responsible  for 
the  definiteness  and  confidence  with  which  he  ap- 
pealed to  men  for  immediate  decision  for  Christ. 
It  colored  all  his  thinking  and  feeling.  And  the 
conversion  of  men  was  the  major  emphasis  of  his 
preaching  and  effort  up  to  the  very  end. 

With  him,  as  with  every  obedient  child  of  God, 
numberless  blessings  and  times  of  refreshing  came 
to  him  along  the  way.  He  grew  in  grace  and  in 
the  knowledge  of  God.     The  exercise  of  his  gifts 

208 


His  Religious  Experience.  209 

brought  their  enlargement.  New  sorrows  brought 
fresh  opportunities  to  prove  the  faithfulness  of 
God,  and  new  joys  afforded  him  fresh  occasions 
for  thanksgiving. 

Next  to  his  conversion  the  most  important  spir- 
itual crisis  of  his  life  occurred  during  his  first 
pastorate  at  St.  Paul  Church,  Cincinnati.  In  the 
summer  of  1883  he  had  charge  of  the  Epworth 
Heights  Camp-meeting,  near  Cincinnati.  During 
its  progress  the  teachings  of  Dr.  William  Jones, 
of  the  St.  Louis  Conference,  on  the  subject  of  en- 
tire sanctification  deeply  impressed  him.  The 
teachings  of  Dr.  Sheridan  Baker  had  already  given 
him  much  light  upon  this  subject.  As  a  young 
minister,  in  common  with  all  other  young  min- 
isters of  the  Methodist  Church,  he  had  studied 
John  Wesley's  "Plain  Account  of  Christian  Per- 
fection," and  had  answered  in  the  affirmative  the 
bishop's  interrogatory,  "Do  you  expect  to  be  made 
perfect  in  love  in  this  life?"  But  he  had  never 
felt  that  he  had  received  this  grace. 

During  the  camp-meeting  at  Epworth  Heights, 
however,  he  sought  and  received  this  blessing.  And 
during  all  his  ministry  afterward  he  gave  this  doc- 
trine and  experience  a  prominent  place  in  his 
teachings. 

However  interpretations  of  religious  experi- 
ences may  differ, — and  we  recognize  that  an  inner 
14 


210  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

experience  is  one  thing,  while  its  theological  inter- 
pretation is  a  wholly  different  thing — there  is 
no  doubt  that  there  came  to  Bishop  Joyce  a  great 
spiritual  baptism  at  Epworth  Heights,  which  pro- 
foundly affected  his  after  ministry.  There  was 
a  freedom,  an  earnestness,  a  fearlessness,  and  an 
unction  attending  his  public  ministry,  and  a  pa- 
tience and  love  and  steadiness  of  self-control  in 
his  private  life,  which  showed  how  deeply  the  grace 
of  God  had  permeated  his  springs  of  action  and 
feeling.  We  who  had  known  him  in  his  Indiana 
pastorates  felt  that,  while  he  had  always  been  a 
good  man  and  a  useful  minister  of  Christ,  a  new 
emphasis  had  come  into  his  ministry  and  a  new 
beauty  into  his  life  during  his  Cincinnati  pas- 
torate. 

On  his  election  to  the  episcopacy  he  emphasized 
the  higher  Christian  life  at  his  Annual  Confer- 
ences. He  took  with  him  to  many  of  his  Confer- 
ences Dr.  Samuel  A.  Keen,  of  the  Ohio  Confer- 
ence, who  conducted  "Pentecostal  Meetings"  for 
the  ministers  and  people.  In  these  meetings  the 
office  and  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were  emphasized, 
and  preachers  and  people  were  urged  to  seek  the 
experience  of  perfect  love  and  the  anointing  of 
the  Spirit  for  service.  After  the  death  of  Dr. 
Keen,  Bishop  Joyce  took  with  him  much  of  the 
time  the  Rev.  Edward  S.  Dunham,  of  the  Central 


His  Religious  Experience.  211 

Ohio  Conference,  who  conducted  meetings  on  the 
same  lines.  It  is  not  possible  to  estimate  the  new 
courage  and  hope  and  spiritual  re-enforcement 
generally  that  came  to  thousands  of  ministers  and 
lay  members  as  a  result  of  these  "Pentecostal" 
services.  While  thousands  of  irreligious  people 
and  persons  holding  a  merely  nominal  relation  to 
the  Church  were  converted. 

Bishop  Joyce  had  with  him  in  this  work  "Dr. 
William  A.  Spencer,  Secretary  of  the  Church  Ex- 
tension Society,  whenever  it  was  possible  for  the 
latter  to  so  arrange  his  work,  and  also  Dr.  Manley 
S.  Hard,  of  the  same  Board,  both  of  whom  pre- 
ceded the  Bishop  to  the  heavenly  reward. 

At  first  glance  it  might  seem  that  such  services 
were  an  unnecessary  innovation.  A  reference  to 
the  custom  of  Mr.  Wesley  in  his  conferences  with 
his  preachers  shows  that  they  were  a  renaissance 
rather  than  an  innovation.  For  the  early  Confer- 
ences dealt  chiefly  with  matters  of  Christian  expe- 
rience. Stevens's  "History  of  Methodism"  makes 
that  clear.  The  experimental  note  was  the  domi- 
nant note  of  the  early  Conferences.  But  as  the 
Church  grew  and  became  a  vast  and  complex  or- 
ganism, with  great  benevolent  and  educational  in- 
terests, and  many  organizations  seeking  a  hearing 
before  the  annual  gatherings  of  the  preachers,  the 
Annual  Conference,  as  a  means  of  grace,   disap- 


212  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce, 

peared,  save  as  an  occasional  sermon  aroused  men 
to  seek  their  spiritual  improvement.  The  confer- 
ring together  concerning  personal  religious  expe- 
rience dropped  out  of  the  program,  and  the  em- 
phasis came  to  be  on  things  ecclesiastical  rather 
than  on  things  experimental.  It  was  to  re-intro- 
duce this  spiritual  note  that  Bishop  Joyce  insti- 
tuted Pentecostal  meetings  at  his  Conferences,  usu- 
ally held  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  Bishop  and 
his  cabinet  were  busy.  But  sometimes  they  were 
held  at  other  hours.  It  was,  of  course,  because 
he  could  not  be  there  in  person  to  direct  the  work 
that  the  Bishop  took  with  him  such  brethren  as 
Dr.  Keen  and  Mr.  Dunham  to  lead  the  work. 

Rev.  Ira  C.  Cartwright,  of  our  Mission  in 
Mexico,  told  in  the  Central  Christian  Advocate 
how,  on  one  occasion  at  least,  Bishop  Joyce  intro- 
duced a  Pentecostal  service  into  the  midst  of  the 
business  session  of  the  Conference: 

"One  day  Bishop  Joyce  stopped  in  the  midst 
of  the  work  of  the  day  and  said,  'Brethren,  let  us 
put  aside  for  a  time  the  temporal  things,  and  talk 
of  Jesus  and  His  love.'  Then  in  a  personally  con- 
ducted excursion  he  took  us  all  and  sat  down  with 
us  at  Jesus'  feet.  O,  what  a  love-feast  it  was!  I 
dare  not  venture  to  describe  it." 

Rev.  E.  S.  Dunham,  who  was  associated  with 
Bishop  Joyce  in  this  work  at  forty-three  Confer- 
ences, writes  concerning  him: 


His  Religious  Experience.  213 

"His  anxiety  for  the  spirituality  of  the  Church, 
especially  for  the  young  men  of  the  ministry,  was 
so  great  as  to  cost  him  seasons  of  deep  depression 
of  soul.  He  was  often  with  Jesus  in  Gethsemane 
with  a  heart  of  anguish.  Going  to  his  room  on 
a  Sunday  morning,  we  found  him  under  an  unusual 
depression.  He  said :  'To-day  I  will  lay  my  hands 
on  the  heads  of  two  large  classes  of  young  men  for 
ordination,  and  I  will  urge  them  to  receive  the  Holy 
Ghost.  O,  that  they  would  receive  Him!  But  I 
fear  that  they  will  not,  but  will  go  out  to  be  pro- 
fessional preachers  and  not  soul  winners.' 

"In  this  latter  respect  he  was  always  an  object 
lesson  to  the  ministry.  Never  did  he  fail,  on  Con- 
ference Sunday,  after  lifting  his  congregation 
heavenward,  to  pull  his  net  with  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  or  more  weeping  souls  on  their  feet  for 
prayers.  One  of  his  most  effective  sermons,  never 
to  be  forgotten  by  its  hearers,  was  'Peter  the  Fish- 
erman.' (Luke  v,  4.)  'Launch  out  into  the  deep 
and  let  down  your  nets  for  a  draught.'  His  vivid 
description  of  Peter's  sinking  boat,  full  of  fish  in 
an  unfruitful  place, — and  its  climax,  that  God  is 
always  'a  good  paymaster,  for  He  paid  Peter  well 
for  the  use  of  his  boat,  and  He  will  pay  you  in 
your  hard  field  if  you  will  take  the  Master  with 
you,'  sent  a  thrill  of  hope  to  many  a  discouraged 
preacher's  heart,  and  brought  to  him  many  per- 
sonal letters  reporting  revivals  in  the  most  un- 
likely fields.  I  could  narrate  many  beautiful  inci- 
dents of  remarkable  conversions  on  these  occasions, 
as  the  result  of  his  masterful  sermons  on  Confer- 
ence Sunday,  but  space  forbids. 

"His  desire,  often  expressed,  was  that  he  might 


214  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

be  taken  to  heaven  from  the  pulpit,  while  in  one 
of  his  'holy  gales  of  glory.'  God  answered  his 
prayer,  for  he  heard  the  summons  while  preaching 
a  holiness  sermon  in  a  Pentecostal  camp-meeting. 
He  lives  still  in  the  hearts  of  the  many  thousands 
whom  he  helped  to  see  Jesus.  He  was  a  Boanerges, 
with  the  soul- winning  art  of  Apollos." 

Concerning  the  camp-meeting  at  Red  Rock, 
Minnesota,  where  Bishop  Joyce  was  stricken  down, 
the  Pentecostal  Herald  says: 

"Our  beloved  Bishop  Joyce  had  graced  the 
meeting  for  several  days.  There  was  not  a  more 
humble,  interested  listener  than  he.  Smiles  broke 
over  his  face,  tears  coursed  down  his  cheeks,  praises 
broke  from  his  lips,  as  the  Word  was  preached  by 
one  and  another.  He  had  not  preached — we  were 
saving  him  for  Sunday,  when  he  was  to  preach 
in  the  morning." 

The  same  paper  says  that  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Minnesota  State  Holiness  Association,  held  a  few 
days  before  his  death,  Bishop  Joyce  said: 

"When  I  am  resting  under  the  flowers  I  want 
it  told  as  a  memorial  that  I  had  this  blessing  of 
entire  sanctification  as  a  work  of  grace  by  faith 
in  the  blood  of  Christ,  subsequent  to  regeneration." 

No  one  who  knew  Bishop  Joyce  will  need  to 
be  informed  that  his  teaching  of  the  experience 
of  holiness  was  not  controversial  or  censorious,  but 


His  Religious  Experience.  215 

loving  and  persuasive.  It  was  perfect  love  and 
the  Spirit's  indwelling  that  he  dwelt  on.  The 
spirit  with  which  he  approached  the  subject  and 
approached  men  concerning  the  deeper  things  of 
the  religious  life  was  Fletcher-like  in  its  tender- 
ness and  love. 

It  was  probably  because  he  was  never  a  didac- 
tic preacher  on  any  theme  that  he  presented  but 
little  the  doctrinal  phases  of  this  experience.  His 
was  rather  the  ministry  of  exhortation,  inspiration, 
and  consolation. 

Mrs.  Jennie  Fowler  Willing  wrote  to  an  East- 
ern paper  as  follows  concerning  an  interview  with 
Bishop  Joyce: 

"I  met  him  one  day  in  a  Cincinnati  restaurant, 
and  while  we  stopped  for  a  word  I  told  him  how 
I  rejoiced  over  his  wonderful  revival  services  dur- 
ing: the  session  of  the  North  Indiana  Conference. 
'Yes,'  he  replied,  'they  were  wonderful.  I  've 
learned  the  secret.'  'I  wish  you  would  explain  it 
to  me,'  I  replied.  'Of  all  things  in  the  world,  I 
most  want  to  know  how  to  secure  the  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit  upon  the  people.'  'It  is  nothing 
more  nor  less,'  he  said,  'than  absolute  dependence 
on  the  Holy  Spirit.'  " 

As  illustrating  the  large  place  which  the  sense 
of  God's  presence  had  not  only  in  his  preaching, 
but  in  his  administrative  work,  we  introduce  this 


216  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

letter  from  a  prominent  member  of  the  Newark 
Conference,  Dr.  A.  H.  Tuttle: 

"The  last  time  I  conversed  with  him  (Bishop 
Joyce),  was  when  he  presided  over  the  Newark 
Conference  in  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey.  He  called 
me  to  his  office,  and  held  me  there  for  more  than 
an  hour  talking  about  personal  religion.  Many 
committees  were  waiting  outside;  but  he  held  me 
fast,  saying,  'I  need  this  heavenly  tonic  to  fit  me 
for  the  work  these  men  are  bringing  to  me.' ' 

Administration  in  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit!  What  a  lesson  for  the  eighteen  thousand 
pastors  of  Methodism!  If  we  entered  every  Offi- 
cial Board  meeting  and  every  committee  meeting 
"in  the  Spirit,"  what  irritations  and  misunder- 
standings would  be  avoided,  and  how  infinitely 
smoother  would  move  the  machinery  of  the  Church, 
the  operation  of  which  now  wears  out  so  much  of 
the  vital  force  of  preachers  and  lay  leaders! 

Of  this  same  interview  Dr.  Tuttle  writes: 

"I  was  especially  impressed  with  Bishop  Joyce's 
depreciation  of  himself.  He  told  me  how  humili- 
ated he  had  felt  when  he  last  preached  at  Ocean 
Grove.  It  so  happened  that  only  the  day  before 
I  had  been  talking  with  one  of  our  young  preach- 
ers about  his  ideals  when  he  said  to  me:  'I  had 
been  a  long  while  asking  God  to  give  me  the  true 
conception  of  the  way  I  should  preach.  I  went  to 
Ocean  Grove  and  heard  many  sermons,  but  felt 


His  Religiotis  Experience.  217 

that  none  approached  my  ideal,  till  at  last  Bishop 
Joyce  preached.  It  was  a  sermon  simple  in  its 
outline,  but  filled  with  argument  and  illustration 
that  came  from  a  master  mind.  The  language  was 
luminous,  the  manner  fervent,  and  above  all  else 
the  spirit  was  of  God.  The  effect  on  the  congre- 
gation and  on  myself  was  overpowering.  God  had 
answered  my  prayer.  I  hastened  to  the  platform 
to  thank  the  Bishop,  when  I  saw  him  look  over  the 
retiring  multitude,  the  tears  raining  down  his 
cheeks.  He  lifted  his  hands  over  them  as  if  in 
benediction,  and  said,  "O  that  I  knew  how  to 
preach  this  great  gospel !"  '  " 

Dr.  Tuttle  goes  on  to  say: 

"I  told  the  Bishop  of  this  interview  and  inci- 
dent. His  eyes  flooded  and  he  said:  'How  dare  I 
mistrust  Him  when  He  has  given  us  such  a  gospel 
and  has  commissioned  us  to  go  preach  it!  How- 
ever feeble  the  preacher,  the  power  of  the  gospel 
is  sure  to  be  felt.'  That  was  Bishop  Joyce.  What 
he  was  and  what  he  did  can  be  explained  only  by 
the  fact  that  he  believed  the  Gospel  of  Christ  as 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that 
believeth." 

It  would  be  an  imperfect  delineation  of  relig- 
ious experience  if  we  were  to  confine  it  to  a  de- 
scription of  inner  enjoyment,  or  any  inner  exer- 
cises whatever,  however  genuine  and  important 
these  may  be.  It  is  the  effect  of  these  in  the 
ethical   realm   that   we   must   account   of   greatest 


218  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

importance.  This  phase  of  his  religious  life  pro- 
foundly impressed  those  who  had  the  opportunity 
of  close  observation.  We  have  seen  him  under  the 
most  trying  circumstances,  where  clashing  interests 
made  his  position  one  of  the  greatest  difficulty  and 
delicacy,  and  where  officious  and  unreasonable  men 
must  have  tried  him  to  the  uttermost,  and  yet  there 
was  no  departure  from  the  steadiness  and  kindness 
and  calmness  which  characterized  him  in  the  less 
strenuous  hours.  This  is  the  more  notable  from 
the  fact  that  his  natural  temperament  was  vol- 
canic. Nature's  carbon  had  by  abounding  grace 
been  transformed  into  diamond. 

Bishop  Goodsell  in  Z ion's  Herald  illuminates 
this  phase  of  Bishop  Joyce's  character: 

"My  heart  is  heavy  because  of  the  death  of 
Bishop  Joyce.  Elected  by  the  same  General  Con- 
ference, our  friendship  began  with  the  day  of  our 
election  when  we  prayed  together  for  grace  for 
our  work.  For  seventeen  years  his  acquaintance 
has  been  both  inspiring  and  delightful  to  me.  He 
was  a  holy  man,  pure  in  speech  and  right  in  con- 
duct. His  conscience  was  rightly  tutored,  and  took 
cognizance  of  all  his  powers.  There  was  no  part 
of  him  which  was  not  under  control.  Naturally 
quick-tempered,  he  could  be  silent  under  provoca- 
tion when  few  could  resist  a  strong  sentence.  He 
under-rated  the  grace  that  was  in  him  when  he  told 
me  that  he  was  silent  when  tried,  because  if  he 
began  to  speak  it  set  him  on  fire;  or,  as  he  put  it, 


His  Religious  Experience.  219 

with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  'It  stirred  up  the  Irish 
in  him.'  In  all  these  seventeen  years  of  intimacy 
I  recall  nothing  unworthy  in  him  of  the  Christian 
gentleman  and  bishop.  He  differed  without  anger, 
debated  without  heat,  and  estimated  without  de- 
preciation or  the  slightest  sign  of  jealousy  or  envy. 
He  praised  warmly,  and  was  cold  and  critical  only 
to  himself.  ...  He  said  more  than  once  (to  his 
brother  bishops)  with  a  holy  joy  to  which  he  had 
a  right:  'My  dear  colleagues,  you  are  all  more 
gifted  in  many  ways  than  I.  But  God  gives  me 
something,  too:  He  gives  me  access  to  souls.  In 
every  Conference  some  are  converted.'  .  .  .  He 
was  a  very  brave  man,  not  only  in  meeting  physical 
peril,  but  in  administration.  He  did  not  let  wrong 
things  stay  because  it  was  easy,  nor  wrong  men 
remain  in  power  for  fear  of  raising  enemies.  He 
would  be  the  last  to  claim  freedom  from  mistakes. 
He  told  me  he  felt  he  had  made  some  in  Eastern 
administration ;  but  no  one  doubted  that  these  were 
due  to  imperfect  knowledge  of  Eastern  conditions 
and  not  to  self-will." 

Rare  indeed  is  it  to  have  such  a  cluster  of 
ethical  qualities  in  one  life.  Courage,  to  the  point 
of  self-sacrifice;  humility,  accounting  others  better 
than  himself ;  patience,  bearing  all  things  and  hop- 
ing all  things ;  purity,  transparent  whiteness  of 
soul;  and  love,  abounding  love  toward  God  and 
men.  "Granite  base,  fluted  column,  and  lily-work 
at  the  top,"  a  columnar  character,  "polished  after 
the  similitude  of  a  palace." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
A  Beautiful.  Home  Life. 

BISHOP  JOYCE  was  greatly  blessed  in  his 
home  life.  On  the  twentieth  of  March, 
1861,  he  married  Miss  Caroline  Walker 
Bosserman,  of  Laporte,  Indiana.  It  was  a  most 
happy  union.  To  rare  personal  graces  his  com- 
panion added  a  devotion  to  the  work  of  the  Master 
that  made  the  young  minister  and  his  wife  one 
in  the  completest  sense.  All  through  the  years  of 
his  ministry  this  devotion  never  flagged.  She  was 
his  helper  and  consoler  always.  In  every  pastorate 
the  people  bore  testimony  to  her  noble  Christian 
character  and  to  her  charm  as  a  woman. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  over-estimate  the  in- 
fluence of  the  minister's  wife  in  making  or  un- 
making the  preacher's  success.  The  home  life  of 
Bishop  Joyce  was  a  constant  source  of  inspiration 
to  him.  And  his  home  was  more — it  was  what  God 
designed  every  minister's  home  should  be,  a  model 
to  the  people  of  the  communities  where  they  lived. 

On  the  occasion  of  receiving  their  own  por- 
traits from  the  members  of  St.  Paul  Church  in 
220 


A  Beautiful  Home  Life.  221 

Cincinnati,  Dr.  Joyce  said,  in  semi-humorous  vein: 
"Twenty-two  years  ago  I  asked  the  lady  at  my 
side  if  she  would  become  the  wife  of  a  Methodist 
preacher,  with  the  prospect  of  moving  once  a  year. 
If  she  could  say  'Yes'  to  that  proposition  it  was 
a  bargain.  She  did  say  'Yes,'  and  neither  of  us 
has  ever  regretted  our  decision." 

We  think  that  ministers  will  generally  affirm 
that  the  wives  of  preachers  have  the  heavier  end 
of  the  yoke.  They  have  to  stay  at  home  when 
their  husbands  are  away  on  the  long  circuit  trips. 
The  burden  of  the  absolutely  necessary  economies 
falls  upon  them.  And  of  all  Methodist  ministers 
the  bishops  have  to  be  away  from  home  most,  and 
their  wives  have  most  reason  to  suffer  from  lone- 
liness. We  do  not  believe  the  Church  in  general 
understands  how  much  of  sacrifice  the  office  of 
general  superintendent  in  Methodism  entails,  es- 
pecially upon  the  wives  of  the  bishops,  the  hus- 
bands being  away  months  at  a  time. 

Mrs.  Joyce  bore  the  enforced  absences  uncom- 
plainingly, accepting  them  as  a  part  of  the  burden 
of  service  for  God.  At  those  times  when  the 
Bishop  came  home  utterly  wearied  in  mind  and 
body,  and  oppressed  with  the  burdens  of  the 
Churches,  and  would  say,  "O,  I  wish  I  could  go 
to  sleep  and  never  have  to  awaken,"  it  was  his 
wife  who  soothed  and  comforted  him. 


222  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

Two  sons  were  born  to  them.  One  of  them, 
their  second  child,  Wilbur,  died  in  infancy.  Their 
first  child,  Frank  Melville,  grew  to  manhood,  and 
became  an  honor  and  source  of  great  comfort  to 
them.  During  his  college  days  at  Greencastle, 
Indiana,  this  son  organized  and  drilled  the  cham- 
pion college  military  company  of  the  country.  It 
bore  the  name  of  "The  Asbury  Cadets,"  and  at 
the  national  tournament  at  Indianapolis,  Indiana, 
in  1882,  in  competition  with  companies  from  cities 
and  colleges  all  over  America,  it  won  third  prize. 
While  the  Artillery  Company  from  Asbury  Uni- 
versity, also  organized  and  led  by  Captain  Frank 
Joyce,  won  first  prize  over  all  competitors.  Well 
does  the  writer  recall  the  exultant  pride  with  which 
we  undergraduates  at  the  college  received  the  news 
of  these  great  victories.  This  son  afterwards  arose 
to  high  rank  in  the  business  circles  of  Cincinnati 
and  Minneapolis,  where  his  home  now  is.  It  was 
in  his  home  that  Bishop  Joyce  died,  and  with  him 
the  widow  of  the  Bishop  now  resides. 

During  the  pastorate  at  Greencastle  Bishop 
Joyce's  sister  died,  and  left  a  son,  Melville,  whom 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Joyce  adopted  and  reared.  This 
son  on  reaching  manhood  married,  and  makes  his 
home  in  Cincinnati. 

Three  and  a  half  years  before  the  Bishop's 
death  they  had  moved  into  their  new  home.     And 


A  Beautiful  Home  Life.  223 

on  New- Year's  day,  1902,  Bishop  Joyce  drew  up 
the  following  paper,  in  gratitude  to  God  and  in 
token  of  their  love  to  Colonel  Joyce,  and  all  the 
members  of  the  household  signed  it: 

"We  wish  to  say  that  we  regard  it  as  a  great 
privilege  as  well  as  a  blessing  and  joy  to  be  able 
to  sit  under  our  own  vine  and  fig-tree  in  this  our 
new  home,  and  together  eat  our  bountiful  dinner 
on  this  the  first  day  of  the  new  year,  1902.  Surely 
our  lines  have  fallen  to  us  in  pleasant  places,  and 
we  have  a  goodly  heritage.  The  Lord  our  Heav- 
enly Father  has  been,  and  continues  to  be  exceed- 
ingly kind  and  gracious  to  us,  filling  our  home 
with  plenty,  and  also  filling  our  hearts  and  lives 
with  a  great  gladness  and  supreme  joy.  We  recog- 
nize His  hand  in  all  the  blessings  we  this  day  have, 
and  without  hesitation  or  distrust  or  misgivings, 
trust  Him  for  His  guidance  and  blessings  through 
the  year  upon  which  we  now  enter,  and  will  do  the 
same  through  the  years  He  may  in  His  blessed 
kindness  give  and  allow  us  to  live.  And  we  not 
only  thank  Him,  but  we  anew  surrender  our  lives  to 
Him,  and  pledge  Him  our  unwavering  love  and 
faithful  and  loyal  devotion  and  obedience  so  long 
as  we  shall  live.  And  we  not  only  give  our  lives 
anew  to  be  His,  but  we  dedicate  this  our  new  and 
beautiful  home  to  Him,  and  ask  Him  as  our  Father, 
and  His  Son  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord  and  Savior, 
and  the  blessed  Holy  Spirit,  to  fill  our  home  with 
their  presence,  and  thus  make  that  sacred  Presence 
an  abiding  blessing  in  our  home,  keeping  us  all  in 
health  and  strength  and  joy  fulness  of  spirit,  glad 


224  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

to  serve  each  other,  and  also  be  a  blessing  to  all 
who  may  come  within  this  our  home. 

"We  wish  here  to  express  our  great  and  hearty 
appreciation  of  the  love  and  devotion,  and  service 
and  patience,  and  skill  and  labor,  of  our  beloved 
son,  husband,  father  and  grandson,  Frank  Melville 
Joyce.  Without  his  loving  sacrifice  and  devotion, 
and  constant  care  and  vigilance,  we  never  would 
have  had  this  our  comfortable  and  tasteful  home; 
and  with  all  our  hearts  we  here  and  now,  one  and 
all,  thank  him  for  this  wonderful  service  which  he 
has  rendered  us.     Therefore  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  we  present  our  beloved  Frank 
with  a  copy  of  this  paper,  with  our  names  attached 
to  the  same,  as  a  testimony  of  our  abiding  love, 
affection,  and  devotion  to  him,  ever  praying  that 
God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  and  by  the 
blessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  may  keep  us  all  in 
the  riches  and  comforts  and  peace  and  joys  of  His 
inexhaustible  and  endless  love. 
"(Signed) 

Isaac  W.  Joyce, 
Carrie  W.  Joyce, 
Jessie  B.  Joyce, 
Arthur  R.  Joyce, 
Caroline  Joyce, 
Wilbur  B.  Joyce, 
Helen  Joyce, 
Mrs.  May  A.  Ervin 
(Bishop  Joyce's  mother)." 

We  should  go  far  before  finding  a  more  beau- 
tiful home  picture  than  this,  both  in  the  tender- 
ness of  the  mutual  love  between  the  members  of 


A  Beautiful  Home  Life.  225 

the  households  of  father  and  son,  and  in  the  full 
recognition,  the  loving  and  glad  confession,  of  the 
love  of  God  in  it  all. 

This  paper,  drawn  up  by  Bishop  Joyce  and 
signed  by  four  generations  represented  in  the 
home,  might  well  become  a  model  and  inspiration 
for  every  Christian  home  in  the  land.  When  we 
remember  that  in  this  beautiful  home  much  of  the 
time  Chinese  girls  were  admitted  while  receiving  an 
education  to  fit  them  for  carrying  the  emancipating 
gospel  of  Jesus  back  to  their  country-women,  it  is 
a  touching  indication  of  the  completeness  with 
which  this  home  of  culture  and  refinement  was  dedi- 
cated to  the  service  of  Jesus  Christ. 

And  when  Bishop  Joyce  came  down  to  the  hour 
of  death,  the  precious  wife  who  had  gone  uncom- 
plainingly with  him  to  the  hardest  Indiana  circuits, 
and  shared  his  labors  in  the  city  pastorates,  and 
had  been  at  his  side  in  his  travels  in  foreign  lands 
for  years  at  a  time,  was  still  at  his  side,  the  same 
loving,  devoted  helpmate  she  had  ever  been.  No 
touch  was  so  soft  as  hers.  No  hand  could  answer 
to  his  wants  with  such  deftness  and  tenderness. 
And  the  eyes  of  the  sufferer  looked  the  love  and 
gratitude  which  his  stricken  lips  could  not  utter: 

"  When  pain  and  anguish  wring  the  brow, 
A  ministering  angel  thou!" 
15 


226  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

And  it  was  she  who  went  with  him  as  far  down 
into  the  "valley  of  the  shadow"  as  it  is  permitted 
one  soul  to  accompany  another,  and  repeated  for 
him  on  the  verge  of  Jordan  the  song: 

"What  is  this  that  steals  upon  my  frame? 

Is  it  death,  is  it  death? 
That  soon  will  quench  this  vital  flame  ? 

Is  it  death,  is  it  death? 
If  this  be  death  I  soon  shall  be 
From  every  pain  and  sorrow  free  ; 
I  shall  the  King  of  glory  see  ! 

All  is  well ;  all  is  well ! 

Weep  not,  my  friends,  weep  not  for  me ; 

All  is  well ;  all  is  well ! 
My  sins  are  pardoned,  I  am  free  ; 

All  is  well ;  all  is  well ! 
There  's  not  a  cloud  that  doth  arise 
To  hid  the  Savior  from  my  eyes  ; 
I  soon  shall  mount  the  upper  skies ; 

All  is  well ;  all  is  well ! 

Tune,  tune  your  harps,  ye  saints  in  glory, 

All  is  well ;  all  is  well ! 
I  will  rehearse  the  pleasing  story, 

All  is  well ;  all  is  well ! 
Bright  angels  are  from  glory  come, 
They're  round  my  bed,  they're  in  my  room, 
They  wait  to  waft  my  spirit  home, 

All  is  well ;  all  is  well  I" 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
The  Last  Days. 

THE  last  day  or  so  of  June  and  first  two 
days  of  July,  1905,  Bishop  Joyce  spent 
at  the  Red  Rock  camp-meeting,  in  Min- 
nesota. The  camp  ground  is  an  old  one,  and  is 
located  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River,  a 
few  miles  below  St.  Paul. 

On  Sunday  morning,  July  2d,  Bishop  Joyce 
arose  to  preach.  As  a  Scripture  lesson  he  read 
the  third  chapter  of  Ephesians.  The  audience  ob- 
served that  he  was  deeply  moved  during  the  read- 
ing. When  he  came  to  the  eighth  verse  he  was 
quite  overcome  and  had  to  stop  several  seconds  to 
recover  himself.  The  verse  reads,  "Unto  me,  who 
am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints  was  this  grace 
given,  to  preach  among  the  Gentiles  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ."  The  theme  of  the  sermon 
was,  "The  Power  and  Ultimate  Triumph  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ."  The  Rev.  Henry  C.  Morrison, 
of  Louisville,  Ky.,  who  was  on  the  platform,  de- 
scribes the  scene  as  follows: 

"His  sermon  was  one  of  great  power  of  thought 
and  unusual  unction  in  delivery.     Just  before  he 
227 


228  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

fell  he  said :  'They  say  I  am  growing  old ;  and  not 
long  since  I  found  a  photograph  of  myself  taken 
some  thirty  years  ago.  I  placed  it  alongside  of 
my  face  and  looked  in  a  mirror.  I  could  not  rec- 
ognize the  face  and  the  picture  as  being  that  of 
the  same  man.  I  realized  that  I  was  growing  old, 
but,  friends,  I  did  not  feel  the  one-thousandth  of  a 
particle  of  sorrow,  for  this  book' — pointing  to  the 
Bible — 'tells  me  I  am  immortal.  I  shall  live  for- 
ever.' I  noticed  him  stagger,  but  he  righted  up. 
I  was  sitting  in  a  chair  almost  in  front.  I  moved 
my  chair  to  the  side  of  the  pulpit,  and  very  near, 
fearing  he  was  going  to  break  down.  But  he  spoke 
on,  clear  in  thought,  but  with  thickening  voice, 
and  was  saying :  'I  have  preached  this  blessed  Gos- 
pel in  almost  every  country  under  the  sun,  and 
everywhere  it  has  the  same  blessed  effect  upon  men 
that  it  has  here  at  Red  Rock.'  He  gave  way,  and 
I  leaped  forward  from  his  left  and  Brother  J.  M. 
Harris  from  his  right,  and  we  caught  him  in  our 
arms.  Instantly  a  number  of  preachers  surrounded 
him,  and  a  large  chair  was  placed  behind  him,  in 
which  he  sat  for  a  few  moments.  He  said:  'I  will 
be  all  right  directly,  and  want  to  finish  my  ser- 
mon.' Some  one  gave  him  water,  and  after  a  few 
moments  he  arose  to  preach,  Rev.  Brother  Brown, 
pastor  at  Mankato,  standing  by  him,  and  sup- 
porting him  with  his  arm.  'None  of  you  know 
what  labor  I  have  gone  through,  and  if  it  is  God's 
will  that  I  go  now,  I  would  as  soon  go  from  here 
as  anywhere.'  We  all  (including  Mrs.  Joyce) 
entreated  him  not  to  attempt  to  preach  further. 
It  was  plain  that  his  right  arm  and  lower  limb 


The  Last  Bays.  229 

were  paralyzed.     He  was  placed  in  the  chair  and 
borne  to  his  room. 

"The  great  audience  remained  perfectly  quiet, 
and  scores  of  people  were  weeping.  I  said  to 
them:  'I  want  all  of  you,  Christians  and  sinners, 
in  the  Church  and  out  of  it,  who  feel  within  your 
hearts  after  this  sermon  and  this  scene  that  you 
will  give  your  hearts  to  God,  and  live  more  devout 
and  consecrated  lives  to  stand.'  It  seemed  that 
everybody  present  arose.  At  the  two  succeeding 
services  of  the  day  we  had  sixty-five  professions  of 
salvation." 

As  the  Bishop  was  being  borne  from  the  plat- 
form to  his  cottage  he  said :  "If  this  is  God's  time 
and  God's  way,  I  am  ready." 

The  next  day  Bishop  Joyce  was  removed  to 
the  family  residence  in  Minneapolis.  For  four 
weeks  he  lingered,  while  his  friends  alternated  be- 
tween hope  and  despair.  The  story  of  that  period 
is  vividly  delineated  by  the  pastor  of  the  family, 
Dr.  Fayette  L.  Thompson,  of  the  Hennepin  Ave- 
nue Church,  in  the  Northwestern  Christian  Ad- 
vocate : 

"The  concluding  four  weeks  of  helplessness  in 
the  life  of  Bishop  Joyce  are  not  less  remarkable 
than  the  wonderful  years  of  his  vigorous  health. 
The  stately  family  home  at  310  Groveland  Ave- 
nue, Minneapolis,  offered  every  facility  for  his 
most  perfect  care.  The  trained  nurse,  herself  a 
Christian  product  of  our  own  Asbury  Hospital  in 


230  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

which  for  all  the  years  of  his  residence  among  us 
the  bishop  has  been  so  deeply  interested,  could  not 
have  surpassed  her  devotions  had  the  sufferer  been 
her  father.  The  bishop's  son,  Colonel  Frank  M. 
Joyce,  and  his  devoted  wife,  with  utter  self-forget- 
fulness  night  and  day,  ministered  as  utmost  love 
alone  can  to  every  expressed  or  imagined  desire. 
The  beauty  and  charm  of  the  affections  manifest 
during  those  days  can  never  be  fully  appreciated 
by  the  outside  world,  and  are  far  too  sacred  to 
permit  any  verbal  expression.  The  well  known 
pride  of  the  bishop  in  his  only  son  and  beautiful 
family,  and  his  intense  affection  for  each  one  of 
them,  seemed  to  be  greatly  accentuated  during 
these  days,  and  he  was  not  satisfied  unless  one  or 
more  of  them  were  constantly  with  him. 

"For  the  first  week  he  evidently  alternated  in 
his  own  mind  between  the  strong  expectation  of 
recovery  and  an  appreciation  of  his  hopelessness. 
After  the  first  shock  had  somewhat  passed,  for  a 
few  days  some  slight  control  over  his  helpless  side 
appeared  to  be  returning.  So  much  so,  that  one 
morning  with  boyish  glee  and  the  old,  familiar 
twinkle  in  his  eye,  running  his  hand  fondly 
through  his  son's  hair  and  proudly  swinging, 
slightly,  his  helpless  limb,  he  said,  'We  '11  fool 
them  yet.' 

"Somewhat  later  as  his  physician  was  leaving 
his  side,  he  seized  hold  of  his  own  shriveled  cheek 
with  his  well  hand  and  looked  with  a  peculiarly 
penetrating  gaze  at  his  doctor  as  much  as  to  say, 
'Can  you  help  me?'  The  physician  strove  to  ig- 
nore the  manifest  question,  but  with  a  touch  of 
his  old,  splendid  imperiousness  the  bishop  looked 


The  Last  Days.  231 

the  more  intently  as  though  demanding  an  answer. 
At  last,  with  quivering  lips,  the  physician  slowly 
shook  his  head.  The  bishop  turned  quickly  on 
his  pillow  to  hide  his  emotion,  while  the  physician, 
with  tears  streaming  down  his  cheeks,  left  the 
room.  From  that  hour  the  great  soul  seemed  to 
accept  the  inevitable. 

"Upon  entering  the  room  after  a  day  or  two 
of  absence,  this  writer  was  greeted  with  a  distinct 
smile  and  a  slight  nod  of  the  head.  With  the 
hand  over  which  he  had  control  the  bishop  indi- 
cated the  opposite  side  of  the  bed.  When  coming 
close  to  the  bedside,  with  a  vigorous  up  and  down 
motion  of  the  hand  he  distinctly  articulated  the 
one  word  'pray.'  We  all  understood  him  to  sug- 
gest prayer,  and  knelt  about  his  bed.  During  the 
prayer,  by  frequent  pressure  of  his  hands  tightly 
clasped  in  those  of  the  visitor,  he  expressed  his 
approval  of  the  individual  petitions  as  intelligently 
and  appreciatively  as  though  in  perfect  health. 

"A  little  later  he  hummed  through  a  four-line 
stanza  of  some  hymn.  It  is  quite  impossible  to 
be  positive  to  the  degree  of  certainty,  but  those 
who  heard  it  and  who  knew  his  great  fondness  for 
the  hymn  are  entirely  sure  that  he  was  singing  as 
his  death  song: 

"  '  There's  a  wideness  in  God's  mercy, 

Like  the  wideness  of  the  sea ; 

There  's  a  kindness  in  His  justice, 

Which  is  more  than  liberty.' 

"The  entire  last  day  was  a  never-to-be-forgot- 
ten period.  From  early  morning  throughout  the 
whole  day  there  was  a  supernaturalness  about  his 


232  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

room.  The  face  of  the  sufferer  was  like  some  rare 
old  porcelain  with  a  light  behind  it.  He  was  con- 
stantly looking  intently  upward,  his  lips  moving, 
and  he  seemed  in  perpetual  converse  with  an 
unseen  presence.  None  there  will  ever  doubt  that 
he  saw  unseen  things  that  day,  and  talked  with 
invisible  attendants. 

"Shortly  after  midnight  it  was  seen  that  the 
end  was  drawing  on.  With  finger  on  his  pulse 
the  physician  said,  'It  can  not  be  long  now.' 
Every  heart  was  tense  to  the  breaking  point ;  but 
she  who  was  henceforth  to  walk  alone  seemed 
wondrously  strengthened.  After  a  moment,  in 
quiet,  yet  bell-like  tones,  Mrs.  Joyce  said,  'If  he 
could  speak  now  I  am  sure  he  would  say' — and 
then  she  repeated  in  the  same  even  tones  the  lines 
from  the  hymn: 

"  '  What  is  this  that  steals  upon  my  frame? 
Is  it  death?    Is  it  death  V 

"The  spiritual  effect  of  the  entire  scene  baffles 
description.  In  a  few  brief  moments  it  was  well, 
eternally  well. 

"Throughout  all  these  hours  one,  more  than 
all  others,  perpetually  amazed  everybody  by  her 
poise  and  self-control.  One  who  more  than  all 
others  suffered,  yet  was  most  composed  of  all.  At 
Red  Rock  at  the  first,  through  the  long  nights  of 
waiting,  in  the  crisis  hours,  in  all  the  sad  prepa- 
rations for  the  services,  at  the  last  and  always  the 
same  splendid  resignation,  she  put  us  all  to  shame. 
Naught  save  a  superlative  character,  re-enforced 
and  glorified  by  the  matchless  fullness  of  divine 
grace,  could  thus  "suffer  and  be  strong." 


The  Last  Days.  233 

"Unexpected  and  heart-breaking  affliction  re- 
veals instantly  and  inevitably  the  real  fiber  of  home 
life.  The  writer  was  in  and  out  of  this  home  at 
all  hours  of  the  night  and  day,  probably  more 
frequently  than  any  save  the  family  physician. 
The  house  was  a  temple.  The  place  was  holy 
ground.  Utter  and  crushing  sadness  was  in  every 
heart,  on  every  face,  but  trust  in  God,  reliance 
upon  heaven,  a  holy  calm  and  strength  such  as  only 
long  years  of  godly  fellowships  can  make  possible, 
were  there  also.  If  the  atmosphere  of  that  home 
during  these  trying  days  could  be  expressed  in  a 
language  intelligible  to  mankind,  it  would  afford 
a  demonstration  of  Christian  realities  incompar- 
ably above  any   of  the  arguments   in  the  books. 

"Perhaps  the  final  touch  of  glory  came  when, 
under  a  spreading  canopy  at  Lakewood,  with 
banks  of  flowers  about  him,  the  dust  of  the  great 
servant  of  the  Church  was  left  to  rest  beneath  the 
lilies  he  loved  so  well.  From  that  spot  in  holy 
awe  the  sympathetic  company  turned  away, 
touched  by  his  immortal  presence,  into  an  honest 
purpose  to  live  something  of  his  life  among  men. 
Will  one  be  misunderstood  in  saying  that  the  heart- 
aches were  well  nigh  lost  in  holy  exultations,  and 
that  both  tears  and  hallelujahs  were  in  many 
hearts?" 

That  death  did  not  come  to  Bishop  Joyce  an 
unconsidered  guest  is  indicated  by  some  verses  they 
found  among  his  later  papers  after  his  death: 


234  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

"O  think,  to  step  ashore,  and  that  shore,  Heaven! 
To  take  hold  of  a  hand,  and  that,  God's  hand ! 
To  breathe  a  new  air,  and  that  Celestial  air ! 
To  feel  invigorated,  and  know  it  Immortality ! 
0  think !    To  pass  from  the  storm  and  tempest 

To  one  unbroken  smile — 
To  awake  and  find  it  Glory !" 

The  funeral  was  held  Monday,  July  31st. 
Brief  services  at  the  house  in  the  morning  were  con- 
ducted by  Dr.  Fayette  L.  Thompson,  pastor  of 
Hennepin  Avenue  Church.  The  body  of  Bishop 
Joyce,  escorted  by  a  delegation  of  official  mem- 
bers of  the  various  Methodist  Churches  of  the  city, 
reached  Wesley  Church  at  about  12.40  P.  M.  It 
was  there  received  by  the  Methodist  ministers  of 
St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis  and  adjoining  Confer- 
ences. The  body  lay  in  state  until  2.30  P.  M., 
with  a  guard  of  honor  consisting  of  the  presiding 
elders  of  the  Minnesota  and  Northern  Minnesota 
Conferences,  and  Dr.  P.  A.  Cool,  pastor  of  Fowler 
Church,  Minneapolis,  and  Dr.  H.  V.  Givler,  pastor 
of  First  Church,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

The  services  at  Wesley  Church  were  in  charge 
of  Dr.  Thompson,  assisted  by  Dr.  L.  T.  Guild, 
pastor  of  the  Church,  Bishop  W.  F.  McDowell, 
President  George  H.  Bridgeman,  of  Hamline  Uni- 
versity; Dr.  W.  B.  Riley,  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church;  Dr.  W.  H.  Jordan,  pastor  of  the  First 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  Dr.  F.  M.  Rule, 


The  Last  Days.  235 

presiding  elder  of  the  St.  Paul  District.  The 
services  were  conducted  without  music,  but  the  fa- 
vorite hymns  of  Bishop  Joyce  were  read  by  a  num- 
ber of  the  ministers.  The  main  addresses  were 
delivered  by  Bishop  Walden  and  Bishop  Berry. 
Bishop  Merrill  made  a  brief,  touching  talk.  The 
pallbearers  were  the  ministers  who  carried  Bishop 
Joyce  to  the  depot  at  Red  Rock  the  day  he  was 
stricken. 

The  following  were  the  addresses  delivered  by 
Bishops  Beriy  and  Walden : 

"ADDRESS. 

BISHOP    JOSEPH    F.    BERRY,    BUFFALO,    N.    Y. 

"It  seems  not  much  longer  ago  than  yesterday 
that  the  bishops  closed  their  semi-annual  meeting 
at  Louisville,  grasped  hands  in  affectionate  fare- 
well, and  went  out  to  another  six  months  of  toil. 
Bishop  Joyce  had  been  entertained  at  a  private 
home,  but  on  that  closing  day  he  came  down  to 
the  hotel  and  took  dinner  with  us.  He  looked  very 
tired,  and  I  remarked  as  much  to  him.  He  looked 
up  at  me  with  his  charming  smile  and  said:  'Yes, 
but  I  am  going  to  have  a  long  rest.'  He  meant 
a  long  rest  at  his  home  in  Minneapolis,  surrounded 
by  his  family  and  friends.  He  did  not  know — we 
did  not  know — that  a  longer  and  more  exhilarating 
rest  was  just  ahead,  a  rest  amid  the  glories  of  the 
skies. 

"I  make  no  attempt  at  formal  discourse,  but 


236  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

speak  out  of  my  heart  a  simple  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  one  whom  I  loved  as  I  have  loved  few 
men.  If  there  should  be  overmuch  of  the  personal 
element  in  what  I  shall  say,  you  must  pardon  me; 
I  can  not  speak  in  any  other  way. 

"I  have  been  acquainted  with  Bishop  Joyce 
since  1888.  I  have  known  and  loved  him  only  since 
1900. 

"I  will  never  forget  the  morning,  at  the  close 
of  the  General  Conference,  at  Chicago,  when  he 
came  into  the  editorial  rooms  of  the  Epworth 
Herald  and  announced  to  me  that  he  had  just  been 
chosen  by  his  colleagues  to  be  president  of  the 
Epworth  League.  We  spent  two  hours  in  con- 
ference and  prayer  for  the  League,  which  bore 
rich  fruit  during  that  quadrennium.  That  inter- 
view, with  its  earnest  planning  and  praying,  was 
the  beginning  of  five  years  of  most  precious  inti- 
macy. 

uAs  I  have  been  thinking  for  the  past  day  or 
two  about  my  glorified  friend,  certain  traits  of  his 
character  have  stood  out  conspicuously,  and  I  must 
mention  them  to  you: 

"First,  our  friend  was  an  exceedingly  sensitive 
man.  To  those  who  knew  him  only  superficially 
this  statement  will  seem  strange,  but  it  was  more 
true  of  Bishop  Joyce  than  of  any  public  man  I 
have  known.  When  he  was  misunderstood  it  was  a 
wound  in  his  soul.  Criticism  cut  him  to  the  quick. 
He  craved  the  appreciation  of  his  friends.  He 
coveted  sympathy.  A  word  of  honest  praise  when 
he  had  done  some  splendid  service  was  as  'oint- 
ment poured  forth.'  It  is  not  often  that  a  man 
of    such    rugged    strength,    such    courage,    such 


The  Last  Days.  237 

tenacity  of  purpose,  such  abounding  enthusiasm, 
had  also  such  delicac}'  of  feeling,  such  sensitiveness, 
heartstrings  that  were  made  to  moan  or  sing  by 
the  slightest  zephyrs  which  blew  upon  them.  But 
such  was  the  combination  in  the  character  of  our 
translated  leader. 

"Second,  this  friend  was  absolute  and  undying 
in  his  friendships.  What  a  lover  he  was !  To  a 
man  he  trusted  he  gave  his  whole  heart.  He  would 
brave  any  criticism,  much  as  he  disliked  it,  make 
any  sacrifice,  endure  any  toil,  take  any  risks  which 
might  seem  necessary,  to  serve  the  man  he  loved. 
He  may  at  times  have  been  imposed  upon  by  those 
who  were  unworthy  of  his  confidence.  His  own 
heart  was  so  pure  that  he  thought  all  others  pure. 
His  motives  were  so  free  from  selfishness  that  it 
was  difficult  for  him  to  discern  selfishness  in  others. 
And  even  when  his  eyes  were  opened  to  the  truth, 
how  slow  he  was  to  close  his  heart  to  one  who 
had  once  been  admitted  there!  What  finer  trait  is 
there  than  loyalty  to  one's  friendships?  And  what 
blacker  thing  is  there  than  to  accept  the  confi- 
dence of  another  and  then  betray  that  confidence? 
The  friendships  of  Isaac  W.  Joyce  were  never 
based  on  self-interest. 

"Then  Bishop  Joyce  was  essentially  demo- 
cratic. He  was  a  plain  man.  He  loved  the  plain 
people.  Wealth,  station,  social  pretense,  civic  or 
ecclesiastical  position — these  counted  for  nothing 
with  him.  Many  of  his  closest  friends  were  very 
poor.  The  plain  circuit  preacher  had  in  him  a 
brother.  He  would  as  soon  accept  entertainment 
in  a  hovel  as  in  a  palace.  He  was  especially  kind 
to  those   who  had   nothing  to   give   in   return   but 


238  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

their  love.  A  storm  of  indignation  was  raised  in 
a  Tennessee  town  some  years  ago  because  Bishop 
Joyce  accepted  the  hospitality  of  a  colored  fam- 
ily while  he  was  serving  his  Church  in  that  com- 
munity. He  did  not  go  to  that  humble  home 
because  he  desired  to  provoke  comment.  He  did 
not  willingly  invite  the  protest.  He  went  there 
because  he  was  invited,  and  because  to  accept  the 
hospitality  of  the  family  seemed  to  him  the  most 
natural  and  proper  thing  in  the  world.  He  hated 
social  caste,  and  assumptions  of  superiority  be- 
cause of  wealth  or  name  aroused  his  hot  indigna- 
tion. He  was  a  common  man  and  loved  common 
people. 

"Then,  the  bishop  was  an  intense  missionary. 
The  spirit  of  the  propaganda  was  in  his  blood. 
He  yearned  for  the  salvation  of  the  unsaved.  Like 
his  Master,  he  had  compassion  on  the  multitude. 
His  sermons,  his  prayers,  his  conversation  and 
his  correspondence  were  all  surcharged  with  an 
undying  solicitude  for  the  perishing.  There  was 
no  spot  on  earth  that  he  loved  quite  so  well  as  the 
glowing  altar  of  revival.  No  song  was  quite  so 
sweet  to  his  ears  as  that  which  sounded  out  as  some 
seeking  soul  came  into  the  light.  No  bishop  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  ever  came  home  from  a 
foreign  field  more  absolutely  in  love  with  his  field 
than  Bishop  Joj^ce  when  he  came  home  from  China. 
How  he  loved  those  brainy,  awakening  people! 
What  pictures  he  painted  of  their  redemption-! 
No  guests  were  so  welcome  in  his  home  as  re- 
turned missionaries.  He  used  to  say  in  speaking 
to  his  Conferences  or  at  missionary  meetings  that 
he  would  rather  be  doing  service  in   China  than 


The  Last  Days.  239 

an  v where  else  on  earth,  and  that  he  would  rather 
go  to  heaven,  like  Bishop  Wiley,  from  that  land 
than  from  any  other  spot  on  earth.  His  wife  used 
sometimes  to  call  his  attention  to  the  utterance 
which  some  persons  thought  extravagant,  and  re- 
minded him  that  at  his  age  it  could  not  be  true 
that  he  would  rather  be  in  China.  To  this  he 
would  reply:  'I  mean  just  wrhat  I  say;  I  mean  just 
what  I  say.' 

"All  will  agree  that  Bishop  Joyce  was  one  of 
the  most  popular  and  effective  preachers  of  his 
day.  He  was  not  at  his  best  in  a  short  and  in- 
formal address.  His  greatest  efforts  were  sermons 
he  preached  at  the  Conferences  or  upon  special  oc- 
casions. As  a  pastor  in  Indiana  and  in  Cincinnati 
he  was  immensely  popular.  To  sustain  himself 
for  eight  years  in  practically  the  same  territory, 
as  he  did  in  Cincinnati,  was  evidence  of  unusual 
intellectual  and  oratorical  power.  No  Methodist 
preacher  ever  made  such  a  profound  impression 
upon  that  city  as  did  Bishop  Joyce.  What  re- 
vivals God  gave  him  there!  From  the  beginning 
he  was  a  flaming  evangelist.  Our  evangelist-bishop 
has   fallen. 

"I  heard  him  preach  perhaps  twenty  times. 
Two  sermons  stand  high  above  the  others.  One 
was  the  sermon  delivered  at  our  Ep worth  League 
convention  at  San  Francisco.  For  an  hour  and 
a  quarter  he  held  that  mighty  host  by  the  spell 
of  his  fervid  eloquence.  Though  he  spoke  to 
nearly  ten  thousand  people,  his  voice  rang  out 
clear  and  sweet,  and  marvelous  in  its  winsomeness 
to  the  very  close.  In  all  parts  of  the  country  I 
meet  persons  who  heard  that  sermon,  and  it  lingers 


2-40  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

in  the  memory  as  a  benediction.  But,  judged  by 
its  effect,  the  sermon  Bishop  Joyce  preached  at 
the  Rock  River  Conference  at  Dixon  was  still 
mightier.  "Launch  out  into  the  deep"  was  his 
text.  There  were  two  climaxes  which  were  simply 
tremendous,  over-mastering.  The  congregation 
was  melted,  uplifted  and  swayed  as  the  storm 
moves  the  tree-tops  of  the  forest.  What  a  day 
it  was!  The  waves  of  holy  joy  rolled  higher  and 
higher  until  nearly  midnight,  and  scores  were 
either  converted  or  lifted  into  an  enlarged  spiritual 
life. 

"But  at  the  basis  of  all  this  great  life  and 
far-reaching  usefulness  was  the  utter  consecration 
which  our  leader  had  made  to  God.  He  believed 
in  the  Bible  utterty.  He  was  not  troubled  by 
doubt.  He  was  gloriously  converted.  He  never 
discredited  for  a  moment  his  personal  experience. 
He  gripped  with  a  grip  of  steel  ail  the  great 
verities  of  religion.  Skepticism  never  neutralized 
his  power.     He  believed  in  an  uttermost  salvation. 

"I  was  disappointed  two  weeks  ago  when  I 
visited  his  bedside  that  he  could  not  talk  to  me. 
I  wanted  to  hear  his  familiar  voice  again.  As  he 
lies  before  us  to-day  he  is  still.  We  can  not  hear 
him  speak.  Yes,  we  can !  Yes,  we  can !  'He  being 
dead  yet  speak eth.'  And  what  does  he  say?  Our 
translated  leader,  enthroned  among  the  blood- 
washed  throng,  says  to  his  colleagues  of  the  Epis- 
copal Board,  to  the  editors  of  our  Methodist  press, 
to  the  secretaries  of  our  benevolent  organizations, 
to  our  pastors  in  this  and  in  other  lands,  to  our 
great  membership  everywhere:  'Be  true  to  God; 
be  true  to  the  Bible;  be  true  to  the  Pauline  doc- 


The  Last  Days.  241 

trine  of  an  uttermost  salvation;  be  true  to  the 
traditions  of  the  fathers ;  accept  the  whole  Gospel ; 
have  faith  in  your  mission,  and  press  on  to  the 
conquest  of  the  whole  wide  world." 

"ADDRESS, 


"It  was  by  mutual  request  that  Bishop  Joyce 
and  I  were  entertained  together  in  the  same  home 
during  the  last  Conference  of  the  Bishops  in  Louis- 
ville. Those  were  precious  days,  and  all  the  more 
precious  to  me  now.  Our  associations  in  the  past, 
and  my  presence  to-day  would  lead  me  to  be  one 
of  the  family  here  instead  of  where  I  stand.  But, 
looking  forward  to  this  moment,  I  felt  I  could  not, 
although  I  seldom  use  manuscript — I  felt  I  could 
not  say  what  I  desire  to  say  without  having  the 
matter  before  me. 

Bishop  Joyce  and  I  became  acquainted  during 
the  Northwest  Indiana  Conference  in  1870,  nearly 
thirty-five  years  ago.  He  was  closing  his  first  year 
as  presiding  elder,  having  been  appointed  by 
Bishop  Clark  the  year  before,  when  he  had  been 
a  full  member  of  the  Conference  only  eight  years. 
His  early  promotion  caused  a  critical  concern  with 
some,  but  the  hearty  sympathy  and  interest  of 
others.  I  did  not  know  at  that  time  that  his  birth- 
place was  only  two  miles  from  where  I  was  a 
boy.  By  this  same  bishop's  suggestion  I  had  been 
appointed  to  Cincinnati  when  I  had  been  a  full 
member  of  the  Conference  only  seven  years,  a  coin- 
cidence in  our  experience  which  may  have  had 
much  to  do  with  the  beginning  of  our  friendship. 
16 


242  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

I  learned  from  Bishop  Simpson  that  young  Joyce 
had  his  work  well  in  hand  and  that  his  colleagues 
respected  his  counsel.  During  the  first  decade, 
when  he  was  received  on  probation,  his  work  was 
such  that  he  was  then  appointed  presiding  elder. 
Bishop  Clark  selected  him  for  the  position,  because 
the  character  of  his  work  arrested  the  bishop's  at- 
tention and  commanded  his  confidence. 

"At  the  close  of  a  successful  term  on  that  dis- 
trict he  was  appointed  to  Lafayette,  a  station 
where,  as  pastor  and  as  presiding  elder,  he  was 
well  known.  It  was  one  of  the  first  important 
churches  he  was  called  upon  to  serve,  and  he  spent 
ten  years  at  Lafayette  as  pastor  and  presiding 
elder.  His  next  pastoral  term  was  in  the  church 
at  Greencastle.  Here  his  kindly  life  had  a  great 
influence  upon  the  students.  He  found  no  reason 
to  modify  the  evangelistic  character  of  his  preach- 
ing. At  the  close  of  this  pastorate  in  1879  his 
Conference  elected  him  as  a  delegate  to  the  Gen- 
eral Conference.  In  1880  he  became  pastor  of 
St.  Paul  Church  in  Cincinnati.  The  Church  had 
been  served  by  pastors  known  throughout  the  whole 
connection,  and  the  bishops  and  the  Church  rep- 
resentatives were  all  concerned  about  the  choice  to 
be  made.  Bishop  Peck  appointed  him  in  1880,  and 
at  the  close  of  1883  he  was  appointed  to  Trinity, 
and  after  three  years  he  was  returned  to  St.  Paul, 
where  he  served  until  he  was  elected  bishop  in 
1888.  His  pastoral  service  in  these  two  churches 
covered  a  period  of  seven  years  and  eight  months. 
When  he  came  to  Cincinnati  as  pastor  there  was  a 
discouraging  debt  on  each  of  these  two  churches. 
He  used  ordinary  means  to  interest  the  people  of 


The  Last  Days.  243 

the  church,  but  he  was  insistent  in  impressing  upon 
the  officers  of  the  church  and  Sunday-school  the 
need  of  a  great  revival.  He  saw  the  necessity  of  a 
revival  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  church.  This  is 
his  own  record  as  stated  in  that  memorial  to  Bishop 
Wiley:  'During  my  first  pastorate  at  St.  Paul 
God  blessed  his  people  with  a  revival  of  religion 
which  continued  three  months.'  He  preached  to 
relatively  large  congregations ;  he  had  revivals 
during  each  of  the  pastorates  such  as  have  not 
been  witnessed  in  Cincinnati  in  a  generation.  There 
was  an  increase  of  membership  in  each  church  and 
full  payment  was  made  of  the  debts.  This  means 
ability  in  the  pulpit,  an  evangelistic  spirit,  a  faith- 
ful performance  of  pastoral  duties,  a  practical 
leadership  in  temporal  as  well  as  in  spiritual  af- 
frairs  of  the  church.  He  brought  into  his  Epis- 
copal work  the  evangelistic  spirit  which  was  char- 
acteristic of  his  pastorate.  He  prepared  his  ser- 
mons not  only  with  the  desire  to  interest  his  con- 
gregations, but  also  with  the  view  that  his  hearers 
might  be  led  to  the  all-important  decision.  Many 
years  ago  in  a  mountain  village  in  North  Caro- 
lina, where  Bishop  Simpson  and  I  were  keeping 
watchnight,  he  told  me  that  he  attributed  much  of 
his  success  to  his  intense  desire  to  bring  his  hearers 
to  an  immediate  decision. 

"During  his  residence  at  Chattanooga  he  was 
an  inspiration  in  the  encouragement  of  our  strug- 
gling churches  in  the  South.  A  little  after  he  had 
taken  up  his  Episcopal  duties  at  Chattanooga, 
owing  to  some  peculiar  conditions  that  arose  at 
that  time,  he  was  elected  Chancellor  of  Grant  Uni- 
versity.     His   time   was    fully    occupied   with   his 


i 


244  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

Episcopal  duties,  yet  for  five  years  he  held  that 
position  to  the  greatest  advantage. 

"His  wisdom  and  the  element  of  leadership 
were  made  prominent  in  the  most  delicate  duty  a 
bishop  is  called  upon  to  perform,  and  that  is  in 
fixing  the  appointments  of  the  preachers.  In  the 
discharge  of  this  duty  Bishop  Joyce  was  able  to 
render  much  valuable  service,  but  he  came  to  this 
duty  with  a  brother's  heart,  and  yet  with  a  leader's 
conviction.  He  understood  and  s}Tmpathized  with 
the  preacher  and  his  family,  yet  he  never  failed 
to  recognize  the  material  and  spiritual  welfare  of 
the  Church.  He  was  devoted  as  any  father  could 
be,  but  when  firmness  was  needed  he  was  immov- 
able. 

"His  work  as  bishop  was  done  faithfully  and 
well;  no  one  could  become  more  deeply  interested 
in  the  work  and  carry  it  forward  in  a  more  advan- 
tageous way.  Perhaps  the  most  important  work 
he  did  was  in  foreign  fields,  and  no  other  foreign 
field  interested  him  quite  as  much  as  China  and 
its  old  and  quaint  civilization.  Bishop  Jo}^ce  in 
seventeen  years  has  done  more  work  in  foreign 
fields  than  any  other  bishop  in  the  episcopacy 
except  myself.  In  1898  he  held  twelve  Con- 
ferences in  Continental  Europe;  he  had  charge  of 
Mexico  in  1895  and  thoroughly  visited  that  work; 
in  1896-7  he  had  charge  of  China,  Korea  and 
Japan  and  spent  two  consecutive  years  there,  and 
he  was  the  first  to  make  the  toilsome  trip  to  the 
West  China  mission.  His  last  foreign  visit  was 
to  South  America  in  1903  and  1904.  He  went 
down  one  side  of  the  coast  and  returned  on  the 
other  side,  visiting  every  part  of  the  field.      He 


The  Last  Days.  245 

was  vitally  interested  in  every  part  of  our  foreign 
work.  He  was  careful  in  his  administration.  He 
was  anxious  that  our  work  should  be  Methodistic. 
It  was  necessary  for  him  to  preach  through  an 
interpreter,  but  his  sermons  were  so  full  of  the 
evangelistic  spirit  that  his  Episcopal  visits  marked 
a  new  Gospel  era  in  those  far  foreign  fields.  This 
gives  supreme  significance  to  the  words  with  which 
his  life-work  as  a  preacher  culminated:  'I  have 
preached  this  Gospel  in  nearly  every  country  on 
the  globe,  and  always  with  the  same  effect!'  His 
report  in  the  Bishops'  Conference  of  his  two  years 
service  in  Japan,  China  and  Korea  made  a  deep 
and  lasting  impression  upon  his  hearers.  Stead- 
fast as  their  faith  was  in  the  saving  power  of 
the  Gospel,  former  reports  from  those  fields  had 
not  led  them  to  expect  such  results  as  followed 
his  earnest  and  faithful  preaching  in  China  and 
Japan.  At  the  close  of  his  report  he  emphasized 
the  importance  of  preaching  an  evangelistic  Gos- 
pel, and  to  close  the  sermon  by  an  appeal  to  sin- 
ners to  make  an  immediate  decision  by  rising  for 
prayers  or  in  some  other  public  way  committing 
themselves  to  God  their  Saviour.  With  deep  emo- 
tion he  closed  by  saying,  'Brother  bishops,  let  us 
give  the  Holy  Ghost  a  chance!'  That  Board  was 
moved  as  I  never  saw  it  moved  before  or  since. 

"I  am  moved  to  make  a  single  remark  with- 
out having  it  committed  to  my  paper.  Here  sits 
with  us  this  afternoon  the  one  who  has  been  his 
companion  in  his  ministerial  work  for  forty-four 
years  or  about  that  time.  No  one  but  a  bishop's 
wife  knows  what  the  Episcopacy  means  for  the 
home.     It  means  the  breaking  up  of  home.     Many 


246  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

of  your  bishops  sleep  more  nights  on  the  sleeping 
car  than  they  do  in  their  homes.  This  companion 
for  twenty-seven  years  shared  with  Bishop  Joyce 
the  lot  of  a  pastor's  wife.  During  a  large  portion 
of  his  travels  in  foreign  fields  she  was  with  him, 
and  during  one  year  alone  he  traveled  nearly  forty 
thousand  miles.  Our  people  do  not  know,  the 
Methodist  Church  does  not  know  what  a  pastor's 
wife  sacrifices  in  building  up  the  Church.  The 
Church  does  not  know  the  blessed  influence  that 
the  bishops'  wives  exert  upon  the  welfare  of  the 
Church. 

"Bishop  Jo}Tce  was  strong  as  a  friend.  Con- 
cerning Bishop  Wiley  he  wrote:  'He  was  a  true 
friend ;  he  dearly  loved  his  friends  and  opened  his 
heart  to  them.  I  can  say  of  Bishop  Wiley  that 
he  was  one  of  the  truest  friends  I  ever  had.'  These 
words  mean  that  Bishop  Joyce  knew  what  friend- 
ship was  and  cherished  it.  He  had  many  true 
friends,  but,  as  with  every  man,  a  few  stood  very 
close  to  him.  I  was  cognizant  of  the  friendship 
between  him  and  Bishop  Wiley.  He  and  the 
sainted  Ridgaway  were  far  more  than  neighbor 
pastors.  I  knew  well  that  precious  fellowship  for 
Wiley,  Ridgaway  and  Chase.  Friends,  they  are 
united.  He  and  one  member  of  his  old  Confer- 
ence (still  living,  or  I  would  give  his  name)  in 
Indiana  had  been  in  the  closest  friendship  all 
these  years.  There  are  few  of  such  friendships, 
but  they  make  earth  much  richer. 

"I  think  I  may  be  pardoned  for  speaking  of 
this  incident:  From  that  room  where  the  dear  ones 
were  watching  over  him  so  tenderly  and  faithfully 


The  Last  Days.  247 

during  those  anxious  days  and  nights  came  this 
message  in  a  letter  written  from  that  home :  'Frank 
can  help  him  talk  by  catching  a  word  now  and 
then  and  reading  his  thoughts  apparently.  Yes- 
terday he  was  trying  to  talk  of  Bishop  Walden. 
He  kept  saying  "John  M."  over  and  over,  and 
when  Frank  said,  "John  M.  Walden?"  he  said, 
"Yes,"  and  then  added  slowly,  "Best  friend  I  ever 
had."  '     And  I  know  what  those  words  mean. 

"This  friend,  moved  by  that  unspeakable  feel- 
ing to  the  which  name  friendship  is  given  in  lim- 
ited human  speech,  offers  this  tribute,  imperfect 
as  it  is,  to  his  dear  memor}'.  These  earthly  trib- 
utes seem  inadequate,  but  they  are  filled  with 
tender  and  sacred  meaning.  We  know  something 
of  their  worth;  we  feel  something  of  their  inner 
power,  but  he,  seeing  as  he  is  seen,  and  knowing 
as  he  is  known  now,  may  they  not  be  even  more 
to  him  than  to  us  with  only  our  earthly  vision? 
But  if  all  this  is  so,  and  who  doubts  it?  these 
tributes  are  but  a  minor  part  of  what  has  become 
real  to  him.  During  his  last  visit  to  St.  Paul 
Church,  how  many  gathered  around  him  wTho  had 
been  converted  under  his  ministry !  How  many 
have  gained  the  heavenly  home  in  whose  salvation 
he  wras  instrumental!  Now  they  have  gathered 
about  him  there.  May  he  not  now  know  how  many 
were  saved  during  all  the  years  of  his  evangelistic 
preaching?  What  a  constellation  must  be  the 
stars  in  his  crown  of  rejoicing!  That  constella- 
tion is  the  crowning  of  his  passion  to  win  souls  to 
Christ.  But,  far  better  than  even  all  this,  far 
better  than  all  the  saintly  greetings,  has  been  the 


248  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

approving  smile  of  the  enthroned  Jesus,  whose 
all-saving  power  was  the  dominant  note  of  his 
preaching,  and  the  words  of  his  Jesus,  his  Lord, 
whom  he  strove  to  serve  loyally,  to  complete  his 
joy,  'Well  done,  faithful  servant!'" 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

Isaac  Wilson  Joyce  as  We  Knew  Him. 

THE  "Great-Heart"  of  Methodism  is  dead! 
So  thousands  felt  when  the  news  flashed 
over  the   wires  that   Isaac  Wilson   Joyce 
was   no  more. 

Eighteen  months  have  passed  since  then  and 
the  feeling  of  bereavement  is  as  fresh  as  on  the 
day  he  was  stricken;  a  feeling  by  no  means  con- 
fined to  the  denomination  of  which  Bishop  Joyce 
was  an  honored  representative.  The  time  has 
been  long  enough  to  permit  a  sober  estimate  of 
his  character  and  work.  And  with  a  multitude  of 
people  that  estimate  will  declare  Bishop  Jo}^ce  to 
have  been  the  most  Christ-like  man  they  ever  knew. 
There  was  about  him  a  personal  magnetism 
that  was  the  product  of  warm  sympathies  and  per- 
sonal graces.  It  drew  men  to  him.  Coupled  with 
it  was  a  dignity,  both  of  manner  and  character, 
which  won  their  respect,  forbidding  undue  famil- 
iarity. This  respect  was  heightened  by  the  ca- 
pacity he  displayed  in  the  management  of  men  and 
affairs.  Courage  and  gentleness  were  so  admir- 
249 


250  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

ably  blended  as  to  provoke  wonder  that  either 
could  exist  so  fully,  and  brook  at  the  same  time 
the  other's  presence.  All  this  was  combined  with 
a  passion  of  zeal  and  enthusiasm  for  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  for  the  personal  Christ  that  often 
rendered  his  personality  radiant.  Particularly  was 
this  last  impression  produced  when  he  was  at  his 
best  in  the  pulpit.  Whatever  the  conventional 
standards  of  pulpit  discourse  might  offer  in  crit- 
icism of  the  homiletical  structure  of  his  sermons, 
or  as  to  their  subject-matter,  judged  by  that  most 
accurate  of  all  canons,  the  total  effect  produced, 
Bishop  Joyce  was  a  remarkable  preacher.  Few, 
indeed,  are  the  men  of  this  generation  who  have 
touched  the  secret  springs  of  being  in  so  many 
people.  And,  not  as  his  type  of  preachers  are 
usually  credited  with  doing,  only  emotionally  and 
evanescently,  but  permanently.  While  often  the 
emotions  have  been  profoundly  moved,  yet  the  will 
and  the  moral  nature  have  been  moved  also,  and 
when  precipitation  has  taken  place,  there  have  been 
seen  the  crystallizings  of  new  and  holy  character. 
In  this  regard  Bishop  Joyce's  ministry  was  truly 
apostolic.  Under  his  preaching  the  phenomena  of 
the  early  Christian  preaching  were  continually  re- 
appearing. And  when  it  is  remembered  that  this 
was  in  a  "burnt  district"  age — a  generation  in 
which   the   pendulum   has   swung   to   the   farthest 


Isaac  Wilson  Joyce  as  We  Knew  Him.    251 

extreme  from  the  emotional  phases  of  the  apostolic 
era,  and  when  the  people  called  Methodists  main- 
tain for  the  greater  part  an  attitude  of  apology 
for  being  the  depository  of  a  "heart"  religion,  it 
becomes  apparent  how  much  independence  of  in- 
tellect— not  to  say  courage — Bishop  Joyce's  at- 
titude required.  For  it  is  harder  to  be  true  to  a 
teaching  which,  because  of  excesses  or  abuse,  has 
been  discredited,  than  to  champion  an  entirely  new 
interpretation   of   religion. 

The  achievements  of  Bishop  Joyce's  career 
bulk  large.  The  work  he  accomplished  in  the 
pastorate,  the  unexpected  strength  which  his  Epis- 
copal administration  developed,  the  new  impulse 
which  he  gave  to  evangelism  throughout  the  whole 
Church,  the  impetus  he  imparted  to  missionary 
enterprise,  and  the  powerful  influence  which  he 
exerted  on  individuals,  especially  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  preachers  of  Methodism,  were  extraordi- 
nary, even  for  one  in  his  high  position. 

His  career  is  full  of  encouragement  to  the 
average  men  in  the  ministry — average  in  ability 
and  in  educational  equipment — as  showing,  not 
how  high  a  position  a  man  of  less  than  the  highest 
intellectual  equipment  and  power  in  the  realm  of 
pure  intellect  can  attain,  but  as  showing  how  much 
such  a  man  can  actually  achieve  that  is  of  perma- 
nent value  to  the  kingdom  of  God.     With  strong 


252  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

though  not  transcendent  mind,  and  with  an  edu- 
cation little  better  than  the  high  school  at  the 
start,  though  afterwards  greatly  enlarged  by 
study,  his  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  being  obtained 
by  a  course  of  study,  this  man  of  God,  by  an 
absolute  devotion  to  the  core  of  the  Gospel,  wielded 
an  influence  and  achieved  results  which  many  of 
greater  natural  gifts  and  greater  scholarship  have 
utterly  failed  to  approach. 

This  suggests  two  queries:  whether  we  must 
not  revise  our  classification  of  "abilities"  as  com- 
monly estimated,  and  assign  a  larger  place  to  tem- 
peramental and  heart  qualities,  and  a  less  com- 
manding place  to  pure  intellect.  As  Bishop  Joyce 
once  said  to  the  writer:  "More  preachers  fail  from 
lack  of  heart  than  through  a  lack  of  head."  Sec- 
ond, it  suggests  the  query  whether  the  Church  in 
choosing  her  officials  would  not  do  wisely  to  take 
more  account  of  these  elements  of  strength  in  mak- 
ing her  choice  of  leaders.  That  intellectual  Phari- 
saism which  trusts  in  itself  that  it  is  brainy,  and 
despises  others,  is  an  offense  to  both  God  and  man, 
and  fails  always  to  work  the  righteousness  of 
God. 

But  Isaac  W.  Joyce  was  much  more  than  a  suc- 
cessful preacher.  He  was  a  broad-visioned  man, 
taking  the  keenest  interest  in  everything  that  af- 
fected the  well-being  of  his  fellows.     He  took  the 


Isaac   Wilson  Joyce  as  We  Knew  Him.    253 

liveliest  interest  in  politics.  And  bis  politics  was 
of  the  stalwart  Republican  school,  bred-in  during 
the  civil  war.  However  the  new  generation  might 
be  carried  off  into  new  schools  of  prophesying, 
Bishop  Joyce  was  mindful  of  the  forces  and  ideals 
that  had  come  into  such  sharp  and  fierce  conflict 
during  the  struggle  between  the  States,  and  this 
determined  his  political  alignment,  although  in 
the  last  few  years  of  his  life  he  manifested  sym- 
pathy with  the  Prohibition  party's  work.  He  was 
an  idol  among  old  soldiers.  They  heard  him  with 
delight,  and  again  and  again  called  on  him  for 
speeches.  Except  in  his  directly  evangelistic  ap- 
peals he  was  at  his  best  on  patriotic  themes.  What- 
ever had  to  do  with  the  flag  and  the  institutions 
and  principles  for  which  it  stood,  awoke  his  deepest 
enthusiasm.  Never  shall  the  writer  forget  when, 
as  a  boy,  perched  up  in  a  window  overlooking  the 
pulpit  in  the  church  at  Greencastle,  Indiana,  we 
heard  him  grow  eloquent  over  the  greatness  of 
America  and  over  God's  plans  for  her;  and  how 
his  eyes  flashed  and  his  face  glowed  as  he  intro- 
duced in  his  peroration  Longfellow's  "Building 
of  the  Ship:" 

"Humanity  with  all  its  fears, 
With  all  the  hopes  of  future  years, 
Is  hanging  breathless  on  thy  fate." 


254  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

And  every  one  of  us  boys  was  perfectly  sure  that 
it  was;  the  very  way  Dr.  Joyce  said  it  carried  ab- 
solute conviction. 

Bishop  Joyce  had  a  genius  for  making  and 
holding  friends.  He  had  the  faculty  of  draw- 
ing them  to  him  with  silken  cords  and  then 
binding  them  to  him  "with  hooks  of  steel."  His 
correspondence — the  amount  of  it  and  the  variety 
of  it — with  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  people — re- 
veals it.  The  letters  that  came  pouring  in  after 
his  death  reveal  it.  When  some  good  men  die 
those  who  knew  them  say:  "What  a  loss  his  death 
is  to  the  Church!  Who  can  do  the  work  he  has 
been  doing?"  But  it  is  soon  found  that  the  work 
has  another  workman  at  hand  fully  equal  to  it, 
and  the  loss  is  quickly  repaired.  But  when  Bishop 
Joyce  died  it  was  as  though  a  blow  had  been 
struck  to  hundreds  of  hearts  all  over  the  world, 
and  they  all  cried  out,  "Behold  and  see  if  any 
sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow !" 

We  may  not  know  just  how  that  full  witchery 
was  wrought,  but  such  things  as  these  may  account 
for  it  in  part.  A  young  lad  in  Lafayette,  Indiana, 
comes  along  with  his  daily  papers  on  Christmas. 
Mr.  Joyce,  the  Methodist  minister,  was  to  him  no 
more  than  any  other  customer.  But  when  the 
paper  went  to  his  home  that  day,  into  the  boy's 
hand  Mr.  Joyce  slipped  a  bright  new  dollar,  with 


Isaac   Wilson  Joyce  as  We  Knew  Him.    25.5 

a  cheery  "Merry  Christmas!"  And  the  boy  went 
bounding  down  the  street  to  finish  his  route  and 
carry  the  news  to  his  mother.  Eighteen  or  twenty 
years  afterward  when  Dr.  Joyce  was  pastor  of  a 
Cincinnati  church  that  boy,  now  become  the  head 
of  a  railroad  company,  sent  word  to  Dr.  Joyce 
"that  he  was  never  to  pay  a  cent  of  railroad  fare 
on  any  part  of  his  lines,  and  that  he  could  have 
anything  on  that  railway  except  the  roadbed." 
At  Greencastle  another  poor  boy  came  trudging 
in  from  work  one  evening,  to  be  told  by  his 
widowed  mother:  "Brother  Joyce  was  here  awhile 
ago  and  left  this  for  you."  And  she  put  into  his 
hand  a  crisp  five  dollar  bill.  "He  says  this  is  to 
pay  your  admission  fee  to  the  preparatory  depart- 
ment of  the  University — that  he  wants  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  paying  your  first  fee."  Every  other 
dollar  of  his  whole  course  through  college  and 
seminary  that  boy  earned.  But  that  first  five  dol- 
lars looked  the  biggest  and  the  brightest  of  any 
that  he  ever  handled  before  or  since.  And  there 
was  never  a  day  after  that  that  boy  would  not  have 
done   anything    on    earth    for    "Brother    Joyce." 

A  young  man  in  an  Indiana  town,  ambitious, 
but  with  no  adequate  opening  in  the  town,  writes 
Dr.  Joyce  about  it  at  Cincinnati.  And  Dr.  Joyce 
in  the  midst  of  his  heavy  and  responsible  pas- 
torate, has  time  to  go  out  and  find  a  situation  on  a 


256  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

daily  paper  for  the  lad,  and  he  begins  a  career 
of  usefulness  and  success  in  the  newspaper  world. 

A  teacher's  health  breaks  down  in  her  work  in 
an  Indiana  town.  She  is  the  daughter  of  a  de- 
ceased preacher  of  Dr.  Joyce's  old  Conference  in 
Indiana.  He  sends  for  her  to  come  down  to  Cin- 
cinnati, arranges  for  her  entrance  to  a  hospital, 
secures  special  rates  for  her  and  looks  after  her 
as  tenderly  as  a  father  during  the  months  of  her 
illness.  He  was  Great-Heart  all  the  way  along! 
When  some  one  spoke  about  his  doing  so  much 
for  the  poor,  he  replied:  "  I  have  been  poor  my- 
self, and  I  am  going  to  help  every  struggling  per- 
son I  can." 

An  incident  in  the  St.  Paul  pastorate  at  Cin- 
cinnati further  illustrates  this  quality.  In  his 
round  of  visiting  one  day  he  called  on  one  of  the 
St.  Paul  members.  Her  only  child  was  dying  from 
scarlet  fever.  The  neighbors  were  afraid  to  go 
near.  There  was  no  servant  in  the  house  and  the 
woman  was  in  despair  and  wild  with  grief.  Dr. 
Jo}rce  went  to  the  cellar,  found  kindling  and  coal, 
made  a  fire  in  the  grate,  then  went  out  and  found  a 
friend  to  go  and  help  the  mother,  and  ordered 
groceries  and  other  things  for  the  comfort  of  the 
home.  The  next  day  the  precious  child  was  bur- 
ied. The  mother  never  ceased  her  expressions 
of  gratitude  for  her  pastor's  timely  help  in  the 
darkest  hours  of  her  life. 


Isaac  Wilson  Joyce  as  We  Knew  Him.    257 

Ex-President  Gobin,  of  DePauw  University, 
wrote  of  him,  in  the  Central  Christian  Advocate: 

"To  strangers,  his  bearing  sometimes  seemed  a 
little  too  independent,  if  not  haughty,  but  no  man 
had  more  genuine  sympathy  for  the  needy  and 
afflicted.  In  one  of  his  wealthy  churches  some 
ladies  were  criticising  him  for  his  assistance  of  a 
'ne'er-do-well'  family  in  his  parish,  claiming  that 
he  allowed  himself  to  be  imposed  upon,  but  with 
much  emphasis  he  answered:  'That  woman  (a 
widow  with  three  children)  is  your  sister  in  the 
Church  and  deserves  your  sympathy,  and  not  your 
censure.' 

"When  about  to  move  from  a  certain  city,  he 
and  Mrs.  Joyce  were  tendered  a  reception  in  one 
of  the  largest  and  finest  homes  in  the  place.  Of 
course,  great  multitudes  came  to  say  good-by  to 
the  beloved  pastor  and  wife.  Before  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  occasion  he  asked  to  be  excused  to  at- 
tend to  an  errand,  as  he  was  to  leave  in  the  morn- 
ing on  an  early  train.  He  went  away  from  this 
scene  of  elegance  and  compliments  to  make  a  part- 
ing visit  to  a  poor  family  in  a  distant,  dark  and 
wretched  part  of  the  city,  where  he  left  a  gift  of 
five  dollars  out  of  his  own  pocket  to  meet  emer- 


Wc  read  in  Holy  Writ  of  One  who  went  about 
doing  good.  Is  not  the  secret  of  Bishop  Joyce's 
power  over  people's  hearts  that  he  followed  in  the 
Master's   steps? 

There  was  that  about  Bishop  Joyce's  friend- 
17 


258  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

ship  that  made  those  who  shared  it  feel  that  each 
was  an  especially  favored  one.  This  was  not  be- 
cause of  any  impression  he  attempted  to  make. 
There  was  no  insincerity  about  it.  It  was  because 
it  was  easy  and  delightful  for  him  to  love.  And 
his  whole  heart  went  out  in  unaffected  love  to  his 
friends.  The  personal  element  was  so  strong  as 
that  each  felt  himself  to  be  favored  above  all 
others. 

Friends  of  his  youth  maintained  their  intimacy 
with  him  up  to  his  death.  Friends  made  in  his 
early  pastorates  never  forgot  him.  The  touch  of 
other  personalities  never  effaced  his  image  from 
their  hearts.  They  loved  him  and  he  them,  to  the 
end.     What  a  vital  things  his  love  was! 

Bishop  Joyce  was  subjected  to  a  test  of  char- 
acter by  his  election  to  the  Episcopacy  which  has 
seriously  affected  more  than  one  man.  The  in- 
vestment of  a  man  with  as  absolute  power  as  our 
polity  clothes  the  bishops  with  is  a  strain  upon 
humility.  Many  a  man  has  grown  arbitrary  and 
self-sufficient  by  the  exercise  of  such  authority,  and 
by  having  to  hear  chiefly  adulation  and  flattery — 
or  at  least  praise.  But  with  Bishop  Joyce's  elec- 
tion to  the  Episcopacy  there  came,  if  anything, 
added  humility  and  patience.  We  have  seen  him 
wading  through  the  work  of  annual  Conferences 
with  a  kindness  and  a  patience,  under  trying  cir- 


Isaac  Wilson  Joyce  as  Wc  Knew  Him.    259 

cumstanccs,  that  were  amazing.  In  one  of  our  larg- 
est Conferences  he  was  a  guest  in  our  home.  Night 
after  night,  twelve  and  even  one  o'clock  would 
find  him  still  up,  going  into  the  many  cases  re- 
quiring adjustment,  with  minutest  care.  And  the 
patience  with  committees,  ministerial  and  lay,  in  a 
peculiarly  difficult  Conference  session,  involving  an 
extraordinary  number  of  changes,  was  a  growing 
wonder  to  those  who  knew  it.  And  the  secret  of  it 
all  was  his  absolute  devotion  to  Jesus  Christ.  In 
it  he  showed  himself  a  great  soul,  with  that  great- 
ness described  by  J.  G.  Holland: 

"To  honor  God,  to  benefit  mankind, 
To  serve  with  lofty  gifts  the  lowly  needs 
Of  the  poor  race  for  which  the  God-man  died, 
And  do  it  all  for  love — 0!  this  is  great!" 


CHAPTER    XX. 

Estimates  by  Church  Leaders. 

WE  give  the  following  characterizations 
of  Bishop  Joyce  and  his  work  by  leaders 
of  the  Church,  who  were  long  associated 
with  him,  selecting  a  few  out  of  very  many.  The 
first — that  of  Bishop  McCabe — will  read  almost 
like  a  prophecy.  The  sustained  co-incidences  of 
their  lives  were  further  added  to  in  the  manner  of 
their  death,  Bishop  McCabe,  also,  being  stricken 
with  apoplexy,  lingering  for  a  time  amid  the 
prayers  and  tears  of  a  host,  like  Bishop  Joyce, 
and  then  passing  away: 


"Bishop  Joyce  was  born  on  the  same  day  of 
the  month  and  the  same  year  that  I  was  born,  and 
in  the  same  State — namely,  the  11th  day  of  Oc- 
tober, 1836.  When  I  heard  that  he  was  stricken 
down,  the  first  words  that  came  to  my  mind  were 
these:  'I  come  next.'  I  trust  I  shall  be  as  ready  as 
he  was,  for  when  they  bore  him  from  the  platform, 
he  said:  'If  this  is  God's  way,  His  will  be  done.' 
It  is  so  blessed  to  so  live  that  sudden  death  is 
sudden  glory,  and  the  summons  to  arise  and  depart 
280 


Estimates  by  Church  Leaders.  261 

is  not  a  painful  surprise  to  us,  but  a  joyous  call 
to  a  higher  and  more  glorious  career.  I  believe 
him  to  have  been  a  good  man,  a  true  man,  a  winner 
of  souls,  and  a  man  of  great  evangelistic  power." 

BY   BISHOP   MERRILL. 

"His  work  as  a  bishop  proved  the  fitness  of 
his  election.  He  entered  upon  it  courageously  and 
prosecuted  it  with  the  zeal  of  a  man  of  God,  ad- 
justing himself  to  the  practical  phases  of  his  office 
without  abating  in  the  least  the  ardor  of  his  soul 
in  the  spiritual  lines  of  his  ministry.  The  work 
of  revival  was  still  his  favorite  work.  He  had 
revivals  in  his  Conferences,  and  often  sent  his 
preachers  home  from  Conference  sessions  aflame 
with  zeal  for  conversions.  His  influence  for  good 
in  keeping  the  spirit  of  evangelism  awake  in  the 
ministry  and  in  the  Church  can  not  be  adequately 
estimated.  After  all,  there  is  no  better  repute  for 
a  Methodist  bishop  than  to  be  known  through  the 
Churches  as  a  revival  bishop.  This  distinction  be- 
longed to  Bishop  Joyce  while  living,  and  will  crown 
and  glorify  his  memory  through  ages  to  come. 

"Bishop  Joyce  was  a  much-loved  man  by  the 
ministers  of  the  Church,  but  not  more  by  any  class 
than  by  his  colleagues.  On  his  election  he  came 
into  the  fullest  confidence  of  the  bishops,  and  al- 
ways commanded  their  esteem  and  love.  He  was 
chosen  by  them  to  preside  over  the  Epworth 
League,  and  thus  to  do  much  towards  shaping  the 
religious  life  of  the  young  people,  and  thereby  to 
affect  and  give  tone  to  the  spirituality  of  the 
whole  Church.  He  was  sent  abroad  by  them  to  the 
most   important   foreign   missions   of   the   Church, 


262  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

and  intrusted  with  the  most  important  and  delicate 
affairs  of  administration,  where  world-wide  inter- 
ests depended  on  the  wisdom  and  fidelity  of  his 
work.  No  disappointment  ever  came  because  of 
any  responsibility  put  upon  him.  The  results  of 
his  labors  abroad  elicited  the  admiration  and  grati- 
tude of  those  who  sent  him  and  enhanced  the  esteem 
in  which  he  was  held  by  the  whole  Church.  Not 
even  a  summary  of  his  work  in  his  wide  field  is 
possible.  Gloriously  did  he  come  to  the  consum- 
mation. In  the  strength  of  his  manhood,  in  the 
zenith  of  a  career  marked  with  triumphs,  with  fac- 
ulties alert  and  with  powers  aglow  with  fervor, 
he  met  the  summons  and  bowed  submissively  to  the 
order  which  closed  his  activities  while  the  star  of 
hope  for  greater  victories  still  gleamed  brightly 
in  the  heaven  of  his  love." 

BY  BISHOP   FOSS. 

"The  characteristic  of  Bishop  Joyce  which  im- 
pressed me  most  was  his  sustained  and  unquench- 
able evangelistic  enthusiasm.  Most  soul-winners  at 
times  grow  weary ;  but  he  came  nearer  than  any 
other  man  I  have  ever  known  to  being  an  exhaust- 
less  magazine  of  evangelistic  dynamite.  The  sight 
of  a  crowded  congregation  at  a  Conference  or 
camp-meeting  would  always  set  him  on  fire;  and 
to  all  eternity  thousands  will  bless  God  for  his  per- 
sistent, overwhelming  appeals  on  such  occasions  for 
the  immediate  surrender  of  the  sinful  soul  to  the 
present  Savior.  Even  through  an  interpreter  such 
appeals  from  his  lips  were  often  'the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation.' 

"The   Board   of   Bishops   will   long   remember 


Estimates  by  Church  Leaders.  263 

his  report  to  them  of  his  work  in  Japan  and  China, 
and  especially  his  evangelistic  successes  there.  At 
the  close  of  the  report  he  gave  his  colleagues  a 
word  of  exhortation  on  the  wisdom  of  ending  the 
sermon  with  an  earnest  appeal  to  sinners  to  'rise 
for  prayers,'  or  in  some  other  way  openly  commit 
themselves  at  once  to  God;  and,  with  streaming 
eyes  and  quivering  lips,  he  cried  out,  'Brethren,  let 
us  give  the  Holy  Ghost  a  chance !'  " 

BY  BISHOP  GOODSEKL. 

"My  heart  is  heavy  because  of  the  death  of 
Bishop  Joyce.  Elected  by  the  same  General  Con- 
ference our  friendship  began  with  the  day  of  our 
election  when  we  prayed  together  for  grace  for 
our  work.  For  seventeen  years  his  acquaintance 
has  been  both  inspiring  and  delightful  to  me.  He 
was  a  holy  man,  pure  in  speech  and  right  in  con- 
duct. His  conscience  was  rightly  tutored,  and  took 
cognizance  of  all  his  powers.  There  was  no  part 
of  him  which  was  not  under  control.  Naturally 
quick-tempered,  he  could  be  silent  under  provo- 
cation when  few  could  resist  a  strong  sentence.  He 
under-rated  the  grace  in  him  when  he  told  me 
that  he  was  silent  when  tried  because  if  he  began 
to  speak  it  set  him  on  fire,  or,  as  he  put  it,  with 
a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  'It  stirred  up  the  Irish  in 
him.'  In  all  these  seventeen  years  of  intimacy  I 
recall  nothing  unworthy  in  him  of  the  Christian 
gentleman  and  bishop.  He  differed  without  anger, 
debated  without  heat,  and  estimated  without  depre- 
ciation or  the  slightest  sign  of  jealousy  or  envy. 
He  praised  warmly,  and  was  cold  and  critical  only 
to  himself. 


264  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

"While  abroad  he  observed  carefully,  and  al- 
wa}Ts  came  home  with  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  work.  The  evangelizing  power  of  the  man 
was  so  steady  that,  whether  he  preached  in  English 
or  through  an  interpreter,  men  were  won  to  Christ, 
I  believe,  in  every  Conference  he  held.  He  said 
more  than  once  with  a  holy  joy  to  which  he  had 
a  right:  'My  dear  colleagues,  you  all  are  more 
gifted  in  many  ways  than  I.     But  God  gives  me 

(something,  too:  He  gives  me  access  to  souls.  In 
every  Conference  some  are  converted.' 

"If  any  have  heard  him  preach  their  verdict 
must  be  that,  always  clear  and  strong  in  matter, 
his  hortatory  summing-up  and  closing  were  often 
truly  awful  in  their  power.  I  know  of  no  one 
who  equaled  him  among  us  in  exhortation  and  in 
the  immediate  results  of  exhortation.  In  the 
Bishops'  Conferences  he  was  an  infrequent  speaker, 
but  always  commanded  attention  by  the  clearness, 
precision,  compactness,  timeliness,  and  brevity  of 
his  contributions  to  our  debates. 

"He  was  a  very  brave  man,  not  only  in  meeting 
physical  peril,  but  in  administration.  He  did  not 
I  let  wrong  things  stay  because  it  was  easy,  nor 
wrong  men  remain  in  power  for  fear  of  raising 
enemies.  He  would  be  the  last  to  claim  freedom 
from  mistakes.  He  told  me  -he  felt  he  had  made 
some  in  Eastern  administration ;  but  no  one  doubted 
that  these  were  due  to  imperfect  knowledge  of 
Eastern  conditions,  and  not  to  self-will. 

"We  have  seen  for  a  quadrennium  that  he  was 
failing.  There  was  a  slower  and  heavier  step. 
He  sometimes  complained  that  his  feet  were  sore 
under  his  weight,  which  was  moderate.     Sometimes 


Estimates  by  Church  Leaders.  265 

to  intimates  lie  would  say :  'The  General  Confer- 
ence will  make  an  end  of  old  man  Joyce  next  time.' 
But  the  end-making  was  something  to  smile  over. 
He  often  told  me  that  he  prayed  to  know  when  he 
was  old  and  not  to  resent  the  judgments  of  others 
as  to  this.  I  could  have  wished  he  had  spared  him- 
self in  labor  a  little  after  passing  sixty-five.  But 
to  the  end  he  worked  on  as  if  he  was  forty-five. 

"And  his   ending  was   like  him :   a   ride   until 
midnight  Saturday  night,  broken  sleep,  a  sermon 
attempted,  a  moment's  hesitancy  and  confusion,  a  \ 
struggle  to  finish  his  sermon,  then  acquiescence  in  j 
the  sudden  finishing  of  his  work,  and  then  increas-  I 
ing  paralysis,   weakness,   and  at   last   death.      We 
may  know  where  he  is.     The  only  place  to  which 
so  good  a  man  can  go  is  to  the  home  of  God." 

BY  BISHOP  MALLALIEU. 

"A  more  conscientious  and  painstaking  and 
faithful  administrator  of  all  affairs  committed  to 
his  charge  I  have  never  known.  He  was  brotherly, 
sympathetic,  and  helpful  in  all  cases.  He  was  ab- 
solutely sound  in  the  faith  and  in  all  respects  loyal 
to  Methodism.  If  ever  a  man  was  wholly  and  irre- 
vocably consecrated  to  God,  he  was  the  one. 

"He  had  that  supreme  quality  of  the  highest 
type  of  genius,  the  will  and  capacity  for  unremit- 
ting hard  work.  He  was  a  great  broadminded 
man.  There  was  not  the  slightest  suspicion  of 
smallness  or  meanness  in  his  nature.  Rank,  wealth, 
power,  could  not  daunt  him  or  turn  him  from  the 
path  of  duty.  At  the  same  time  the  humblest  and 
poorest  were  dear  to  him,  and  he  was  glad  to  share 


266  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

with  them  and  stand  by  them  in  every  hour  of 
affliction,  suffering,  or  need.  Race,  color,  lan- 
guage, were  nothing  to  him,  for  he  recognized  the 
Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  all  men. 
He  was  sincere  to  the  last  degree;  there  was  not 
the  most  distant  suspicion  of  sham  and  pretense 
in  Ms  nature.  He  had  a  lofty  scorn  of  all  cheap 
tricks  and  subterfuges,  and  despised  all  hypocrisy ; 
he  wore  his  heart  upon  his  sleeve.  He  was  modest 
and  sensitive  to  an  unusual  degree.  He  never  put 
on  airs,  never  assumed  dignity,  never  shut  himself 
off  from  the  commonest  of  the  common  people. 
Still  he  had  very  clear-cut  convictions  of  right  and 
wrong,  of  the  true  and  false,  and  so  without  noise 
or  disagreeable  self-assertion  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  disclose  his  convictions  and  stand  by  them.  He 
was  especially  noted  for  his  steadfastness  in  his 
friendships.  It  was  his  nature  to  be  loving,  fra- 
ternal, affectionate,  and  steadfast.  His  friends 
could  depend  upon  him.  He  was  found  loyal,  true, 
and  genuine.  At  the  same  time  he  was  not  obliv- 
ious of  others  who  were  not  bound  to  him  by  special 
relations  of  intimate  friendship.  It  may  be  af- 
firmed, with  unhesitating  emphasis,  that  he  was 
an  ardent  lover  of  humanity.  In  the  scope  of  his 
prayers  and  sympathies  and  services,  he  counted 
himself  the  servant  of  all." 

BY    BISHOP    FOWLER. 

"He  studied  faithfully  the  work  committed  to 
him.  He  was  excessively  industrious.  He  worked 
as  one  who  feels  that  the  night  is  coming,  when 
no  man  can  work.      He  rejoiced  in  a  high  state 


Estimates  by  Church  Leaders.  267 

of  grace,  and  walked  in  the  light  of  God's  favor, 
and  preached  the  gospel  in  Spirit  and  with  power. 
He  was  a  good  administrator  and  a  marked  popu- 
lar preacher  with  great  hortatory  powers.  He  was 
thoughtful  and  modest,  but  definite  and  decided 
in  his  opinions  in  the  Board,  and  we  always  knew 
where  to  find  him.  He  was  brotherly,  affectionate, 
and  companionable.  The  force  of  his  intellect  and 
the  forces  of  his  character  will  long  be  remembered 
by  us." 

BY    BISHOP    THOBURN. 

"I  esteem  it  a  privilege  to  be  permitted  to 
record  my  appreciation  of  our  beloved  Bishop 
Joyce.  I  had  known  him  for  twenty -five  years. 
From  the  first  I  found  him  to  be  a  true  man, 
measuring  up  to  the  New  Testament  standard  of 
a  spiritually-minded  disciple.  His  conversation, 
his  preaching,  his  prayers,  and  in  short  his  whole 
life,  was  that  of  a  faithful  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Our  Church  can  ill  afford  to  spare  a  man  of  his 
type,  but  he  had  almost  finished  his  threescore 
years  and  ten,  and  by  faithful  and  abundant  labors 
had  earned  the  sweet  rest  into  which  he  has  en- 
tered. His  brief  visit  to  India  some  years  ago  avhs 
a  source  of  blessing  to  many,  and  will  never  be 
forgotten." 

BY    BISHOP    HAMILTON. 

"There  are  few  men  who  wear  out,  and  when 
one  man  does  the  world  will  know  it;  he  is  the 
only  man  who  has  finished  his  work.  Death  then 
is  only  the  signal  of  work  done.     Methodism  has 


268  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

always  made  honorable  mention  of  'worn-out 
preachers.' 

"Bishop  Joyce  was  literally  worn  out;  he  may 
not  have  known  the  remaining  measure  of  his 
strength.  But  it  has  been  evident  to  his  friends, 
for  many  months,  that  the  wheel  might  be  broken 
at  the  cistern  at  any  moment.  Like  the  tourist  car 
away  on  a  journey,  and  where  there  was  no  law 
against  speed,  he  has  broken  down  in  the  middle 
of  the  road.  From  the  first  there  has  been  little 
hope  of  repair.  And  now,  the  end  having  come, 
nothing  in  life  more  becomes  him  than  his  death. 

"It  is  not  difficult  to  discern  the  nature  of  his 
work,  the  amount  of  it  no  summary  will  tell.  He 
was  an  old-time  Methodist  preacher  put  forward 
fifty  years  into  our  time.  He  had  only  one  busi- 
ness, and  that  he  has  so  certainly  dispatched,  that 
it  'is  business  well  done.'  From  his  call  to  preach 
to  the  very  last  words  spoken  by  him  in  the  pulpit 
of  the  camp  at  Red  Rock,  he  has  had  but  a  single 
aim.  He  came  to  call  sinners  to  repentance,  and 
they  have  heard  Ins  call  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

"In  every  sermon  there  was  splendid  appeal. 
His  fervor  imparted  itself  magnetically  to  the 
multitudes  who  heard  him,  and  his  work  alwa}'s 
went  on  with  spirit.  Beginning  never  so  moder- 
ately, when  he  heard  the  sound  of  a  going  in  the 
tops  of  the  mulberry-trees,  then  he  would  bestir 
himself.  His  enthusiasm  had  'the  genius  of  sin- 
cerity,' and  the  people  were  profoundly  moved.  I 
met  an  intelligent  and  distinguished  lawyer,  who 
was  not  a  Methodist,  in  North  Dakota  several  years 
ago,  that  said  to  me,  'I  have  heard  many  of  the 
great  preachers  of  this  country,  but  I  have  never 


Estimates  bij  Church  Leaders.  269 

heard  a  man  who  has  given  me  such  an  impression 
of   my   personal   responsibility   and   duty   as   your    i 
Bishop  Joyce,'  and  added,  'He  knows  what  he  is    ' 
talking  about.' 

"He  was  able,  out  of  the  pulpit,  on  the  street 
and  in  the  homes  of  the  people,  to  influence  persons 
religiously  as  few  men  can  do.  It  was  his  pre- 
eminence in  this  regard  which  elevated  him  to  the 
episcopacy.  He  was  a  great  pastor.  I  was  a 
guest  in  Albany,  New  York,  two  or  three  years 
ago,  in  the  home  of  a  wealthy  family,  not  Meth- 
odists, where  I  invited  the  Bishop  to  dine  with  me. 
Never  have  I  seen  a  man  so  ingratiate  himself,  and 
without  any  apparent  intention,  in  the  hearts  of 
the  four  or  five  children  and  their  father  and 
mother  as  he  did  in  the  two  hours  we  were  to- 
gether. 

"It  was  his  affable,  entertaining,  and  inspiring 
manner  which  enabled  him  to  induce  individuals 
and  congregations  to  give  money  so  cheerfully  to 
any  and  every  good  cause  whenever  and  wherever 
he  asked  for  it.  His  success  in  raising  twenty 
thousand  dollars  at  the  session  of  the  California 
Conference  for  the  University  of  the  Pacific  will 
not  be  forgotten. 

"There  was  a  tenderness  in  his  sympathies 
which  made  him  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted 
with  grief.  He  gave  away  more  than  he  had, 
and  was  compelled  to  ask  and  receive  that  he  might 
continue  to  give.  A  volume  could  be  written  in 
giving  some  account  of  his  generous  impulses  in 
the  homes  of  the  poor  and  the  bereaved. 

"He  was  never  troubled  with  unbel  lis- 

belief  annoyed  him.     The  heroism  of  his  intellect 


270  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

was  in  his  faith;  his  'faith  was  the  soul  of  religion 
and  worked  his  body.'  He  believed  the  root  of  all 
heresy  to  be  'the  effort  of  men  to  earn,  rather  than 
to  receive  their  salvation;'  this  he  knew  to  be  un- 
scriptural,  and  he  could  vote  against  it  as  easily 
as  against  any  other  kind  of  sin. 

"In  the  delicate  and  difficult  duties  of  his  office, 
his  forceful  purpose  sometimes  awakened  differ- 
ences which  were  very  pronounced.  But  in  doing 
what  seemed  best  for  him  to  do,  he  was  so  sure 
of  his  own  motives  it  was  easier  for  him  to  advance 
than  retreat.  He  was  vigorous  in  his  administra- 
tion, but  when  not  unceremoniously  opposed  was 
as  conciliatory  as  the  Christian  woman. 

"The  end  of  preaching  with  Bishop  Joyce  was 
to  save  men,  and  he  made  it  a  vocation.  If  he  had 
any  art  it  was  in  the  exercise  of  the  skill  with  which 
he  could  gain  men,  and  even  against  their  wills. 
He  rejoiced  more  over  the  one  sinner  that  had 
been  saved,  than  the  ninety  and  nine  sermons  which 
went  astray,  as  he  believed,  because  he  had  seen 
no  fruit  of  them.  Preaching  without  praying  to 
him,  therefore,  was  a  bow  without  a  cord.  It  had 
no  place  or  use  for  an  arrow. 

"We  shall  miss  him  wherever  we  meet  the 
wings  of  the  morning  for  he  went  everywhere 
preaching,  but  nowhere  more  than  in  calling  sin- 
ners to  repentance." 

BY   BISHOP   VINCENT. 

"Bishop  Joyce  was  an  intensely  earnest  man. 
God  was  not  a  theory  nor  a  dream  to  him,  but  the 
one  great  Reality  of  the  universe.  And  a  living, 
loving,  abiding,  inspiring  Reality,  in  whose  con- 


Estimates  by  Church  Leaders.  271 

stant  presence  he  lived.  God  was  in  every  breath 
he  drew,  and  his  official  life  was  full  of  faith.  He 
believed.  He  knew.  He  rested.  He  rejoiced.  He 
lived  out  his  faith." 

BY   BISHOP    OLDHAM. 

"He  has  always  been  to  me  an  inspiring  per- 
sonality. And  his  word  was  always  with  power. 
His  was  the  supreme  cut  of  the  Gospel  preacher. 
There  was  always  enough  of  the  intellectual  to 
engage  and  interest  the  mind,  while  there  was 
markedly  present  the  urgent  warmth,  the  compell- 
ing energy  of  the  prophet  who  takes  you  by  storm 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  his  God  from  whom  he 
brings  his  message.  He  taught  China  how  to  look 
for  immediate  conversions.  He  mightily  helped  ! 
South  America.  He  was  a  naming  torch  up  and 
down  the  North  American  continent." 

BY   DR.    HOMER    EATON. 

"Bishop  Joyce  was  an  ideal  man  and  bishop. 
He  accomplished  a  great  work  for  Christ  and 
His  kingdom  on  the  earth,  and  has  now  gone  to 
his  heavenly  coronation." 

BY    DR.    JAMES    M.    BUCKLEY. 

(In  an  editorial  in  The  Christian  Advocate.) 

"As  a  bishop  Dr.  Joyce  was  dignified  in  the 
chair,  and,  except  when  overwhelmed  with  appli- 
cations or  wearied  with  extraordinary  travel  and 
work,  was  affable  and  approachable  in  private  in- 
terviews with  the  ministry  and  laity  of  the  Church. 
With  the  people  he  was  very  popular  as  a  preacher, 
and  on  some  ocasions  rose  to  a  height  which  might 


272  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

satisfy  the  reasonable  ambition  of  any  one.  Some- 
times this  occurred  under  the  most  unfavorable  cir- 
cumstances. ...  He  belongs  to  the  class  of  bish- 
ops with  George,  Roberts,  Peck,  Waugh,  and  Levi 
Scott.  Not  that  these  resemble  each  other  in  many 
particulars,  nor  that  he  resembled  them  in  many 
respects,  yet  there  is  one  broad  resemblance,  the 
evangelical  trait,  the  hortative  preaching,  the 
heartfelt  spirit  and  manner.  The  sum  of  his 
career  abundantly  justifies  his  selection.  He  passes 
out  of  our  sight  with  a  spotless  reputation  and 
with  many  great  and  good  achievements  to  his 
credit." 

BT    DR.    CHARLES    PARKHURST. 
(Editorial  in  Ziori's  Herald.) 

"He  was  wonderfully  well  balanced — kind  with- 
out being  weak,  deeply  devout  and  zealously  ac- 
tive, yet  with  no  touch  of  cant  or  fanaticism, 
fervent  yet  prudent,  a  friend  to  all,  but  no  flat- 
terer, every  way  sensible  and  efficient. 

"Undoubtedly  he  worked  too  hard.  He  could 
not  seem  to  help  it,  such  was  his  ardent  nature. 
How  greatly  he  will  be  missed !  Genial,  beautiful, 
reliable,  he  wore  his  honors  and  his  dignities 
meekly.  He  could  be  implicitly  trusted.  He  never 
uttered  an  unkind  word.  His  elevation  honored 
the  pastorate,  and  showed  that  the  Church,  some- 
times at  least,  puts  a  proper  estimate  upon  those 
who  go  about  doing  good.  As  he  said  of  Bishop 
Wiley,  so  we  can  say  of  him: 

"  'He  left  but  little  earthly  property  for  his 
family;  but  he  left  them  the  legacy  of  a  pure 
character,  a  good  name,  an  exalted  purpose,  and 


Estimates  by  Church  Leaders.  273 

a  useful  life.  His  memor}'  will  live  in  the  hearts 
of  thousands  of  the  Lord's  poor,  who  loved  him 
because  they  knew  he  loved  them  for  Christ's  sake. 
He  was  a  true  friend.  He  was  never  in  haste  to 
believe  evil  of  others;  he  chose  to  live  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  charity  toward  all  men.  He  never  allowed 
himself  to  cherish  malice  or  ill-will  toward  any.' 
"His  death-room,  we  learn,  was  a  veritable 
ante-chamber  of  heaven.  He  rested  in  perfect 
peace,  with  uttermost  confidence  in  his  Redeemer, 
and  broke  forth  repeatedly,  so  far  as  physical 
powers  permitted,  in  exclamations  of  great  joy. 
It  was  as  might  have  been  expected,  from  such 
a  life.  Few  men  in  the  Church  have  been  more 
beloved,  few  will  be  more  lamented." 

BY   DR.    JAMES    H.    POTTS. 
(Editorial  in  Michigan  Christian  Advocate.) 

"The  salvation  of  souls  was  the  burden  of  his 
heart,  no  matter  what  else  the  particular  respon- 
sibility he  had  in  hand.  Bishop  Foss  testifies  that 
Joyce  'came  nearer  than  any  other  man  he  ever 
knew  to  being  an  exhaustless  magazine  of  evan- 
gelical dynamite.'  Bishop  Moore  declares  that 
'experimental  religion  and  a  passion  for  souls  domi- 
nated his  pulpit  efforts.'  Evangelist  Dunham  re- 
calls the  fact  that  it  was  Bishop  Joyce  who  inaug- 
urated Pentecostal  services  at  the  Annual  Confer- 
ence session.  'The  thought  of  a  bishop  and  two 
or  three  hundred  Methodist  preachers  convening 
for  a  week  together  in  a  community,  attending  to 
business,  properly  so,  yet  not  one  soul  brought  to 
a  decision  for  God,  and  that  session  leaving  no  hal- 
18 


274  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce, 

lowed  revival  memory  behind  it;  then  the  young 
men  having  no  lesson  in  soul-winning,  was  a 
thought  so  painful  to  him,  that  at  the  outset  of 
his  service  as  a  bishop  he  determined  to  make  every 
session  a  revival.'  And  this  determination  he  ac- 
complished. 

"The  secret  of  this  evangelistic  spirit  in  Bishop 
Joyce  may  be  found  in  the  religious  character  and 
consecration  of  the  man  himself.  Bishop  Malla- 
lieu  pays  him  this  remarkable  tribute,  that  'if  ever 
a  man  was  wholly  and  irrevocably  consecrated  to 
God,  he  was  the  one.'  It  seems  to  us  that  Chris- 
tian eulogy  can  not  get  beyond  that.  But  Bishop 
Warren  confirms  the  estimate  by  saying  that  Joyce 
lived  Christianity,  and  'preached  an  immediate  sal- 
vation from  all  sin  to  a  heathen  congregation  that 
had  never  heard  of  Christ  with  the  same  unction 
)  and  expectation  of  results  by  the  present  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  he  preached  the  same  gospel 
to  one  nurtured  in  Christian  beliefs  from  infancy.' 
"This  rich  experience  kept  him  in  touch  with 
the  Author  of  all  life,  and  it  was  ever  an  expec- 
tation with  him  that  the  God  on  whom  he  relied 
would  demonstrate  His  presence  and  power  to 
save  just  as  really  and  effectively  as  if  He  were 
a  person  present  in  form  and  parts,  to  be  seen 
and  touched  like  human  beings.  He  thought  of 
God  as  ever  at  his  right  hand,  round  about  him, 
in  him,  and  working  through  him.  As  Bishop 
Hamilton  says :  'He  saw  the  supernatural  in  every- 
thing, and  could  have  little  patience  with  the 
preachers  and  teachers  who  were  boisterously  bent 
on  trying  always  to  displace  the  supernatural  to 
find  place  for  the  natural.     The  story  of  his  un- 


Estimates  by  Church  Leaders.  275 

selfishness  is  the  best  that  is  ever  told.  He  was 
absolutely  self-forgetful  in  the  presence  of  crying 
need.  His  generosity  was  an  embarrassment  to 
most  of  his  associates  whenever  there  was  a  call 
for  help.' 

"How  impressive  and  beautiful  such  a  char- 
acter! Pure,  trustful,  benignant,  serious,  earnest, 
insistent  on  present  blessing,  with  God  always  be- 
fore Rim,  flinging  his  whole  life  force  into  labor 
for  souls,  coming  to  his  death-stroke  in  a  camp- 
meeting  sermon,  testifying  with  his  latest  breath, 
'I  have  preached  the  gospel  in  every  land,  and 
everywhere  it  has  met  the  needs  of  men,'  and  then 
yielding  up  his  great  spirit  in  this  strain  of  sweet 
submission,  'If  this  is  God's  time  and  God's  way, 
His  will  be  done!' 

"  'Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant !'  It 
is  cheering  that  thy  life  was  lived  in  our  day,  that 
we  saw  thee  and  knew  thee,  and  that  the  same 
inspirations  and  influences  which  impelled  thee  to 
thy  life-tasks  are  yet  present  with  us,  and  may 
nerve  us  for  like  endeavor  if  we  will  but  yield  to 
them!" 

BY  DR.   DAVID  D.   THOMPSON. 

(Editorial  in  Northivestern  Christian  Advocate.) 

"For  seventeen  years  Bishop  Joyce  went  in 
and  out  before  the  Churches,  bearing  this  high 
office,  doing  episcopal  work,  never  flinching,  never 
complaining,  accounting  no  labor  too  taxing,  no 
burden  too  heavy,  and  no  sacrifice  too  great,  so 
he  might  serve  the  cause  of  God  and  win  souls. 
With  him  the  minister  was  not  lost  in  the  bishop. 
He  carried  into  his  wider  field  all  the  zeal  and 
evangelistic  fervor  that  gave  him  success  in  the 


276  Life  of  Isaac   Wilson  Joyce. 

pastorate.  He  had  conversions  in  his  Conferences. 
While  not  lacking  in  executive  ability,  but  indeed 
measuring  up  to  a  high  standard,  he  bore  the 
honored  distinction  of  being  known  everywhere  as 
the  'revival  bishop.'  On  this  account  his  coming 
to  the  Conferences  was  anticipated  with  delight, 
the  preachers  expecting  a  spiritual  uplift  and  fresh 
inspiration  from  his  presence  and  counsels. 

"This  marvelous  power  accompanied  him  wher- 
ever he  went.  Whether  in  Japan  or  China  or 
India  or  in  South  America,  revivals  attended  his 
ministry,  and  conversions  took  place,  even  when  his 
preaching  was  through  an  interpreter.  A  great 
tide  of  spiritual  quickening  followed  him  all  over 
the  Celestial  Empire  during  his  episcopal  visit  to 
China,  and  the  Church  in  that  far-away  quarter 
of  the  globe  has  felt  the  impulse  of  his  visit  ever 
since. 

"He  could  well  say,  as  he  is  reported  to  have 
said  with  thickening  voice,  as  cerebral  hemor- 
rhage arrested  the  flow  of  his  speech,  'I  have 
preached  this  gospel  in  almost  every  land,  and 
always  with  the  same  effect.'  His  preaching  was 
with  power  and  the  demonstration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

"While  his  episcopal  career  was  noted  for  the 
revival  power  that  attended  him,  there  was  no  re- 
spect in  which  his  work  was  not  a  success.  He 
looked  after  the  practical  interests  of  the  Church 
with  the  eye  of  an  expert.  In  cabinet  work  he  was 
wise,  patient,  and  painstaking.  In  the  Conference 
chair  he  presided  with  ease  and  dignity.  His  mind 
was  alert  to  discover  men  who  had  in  them  the 
elements  of  success,  and  to  give  them  a  chance. 


Estimates  by  Church  Leaders.  277 

Those  who  brought  things  to  pass  commanded  his 
respect. 

"As  an  administrator  he  was  conscientious  to 
a  degree  frequently  causing  him  the  acutest  per- 
sonal pain.  Sharp  difference  sometimes  created 
troublesome  problems,  but  faithfully  he  strove  to 
do  the  utmost  and  exact  right  with  every  brother 
whose  interests  were  in  his  hands,  and  at  the  same 
time  faithfully  conserve  the  effectiveness  and  effi- 
ciency of  the  great  Church  at  large.  Again  and 
again,  when  importuned  for  something  he  could 
not  give,  he  has  spent  hours  when  he  ought  to 
have  been  asleep  in  sad  and  painful  sympathies 
over  conditions  he  was  powerless  to  change.  His 
heart  was  as  tender  as  that  of  a  woman,  and  every 
preacher's  woes  were  made  his  own  woes.  Those 
who  did  not  know  him  well  sometimes  mistook  this 
high  devotion  to  duty  for  willfulness.  None  ever 
more  gladly  welcomed  all  the  possible  light  and  in- 
formation on  any  subject,  or  more  devoutly  sought 
to  reach  the  exact  fact  and  truth. 

"As  a  pulpit  orator  he  will  hold  high  rank. 
He  was  a  mighty  preacher,  and  was  in  special  de- 
mand for  camp-meetings  and  other  occasions  which 
brought  together  great  crowds.  He  had  rare 
power  in  moving  large  audiences.  He  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Epworth  League  from  1900  to  1904, 
and  was  beloved  by  thousands  of  the  young  people 
of  the  Church,  to  whom  he  was  a  spiritual  father 
and  inspirer  to  a  more  consecrated  life. 

"The  sweetness  of  his  spirit  and  the  beauty 
and  spotlessness  of  his  personal  character  were, 
after  all,  his  superlative  charm,  and  the  final  and 
decisive  element  in  his  greatness." 


278  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

BY  DR.   CLAUDIUS   B.   SPENCER. 

(Editorial  in  Central  Christian  Advocate.) 

"As  a  bishop  it  can  be  said  that  he  gave  him- 
self to  his  work  without  even  reasonable  reserva- 
tion. Big  in  frame,  having  a  constitution  of 
woven  steel,  he  literally  threw  himself  into  the 
arena — on  the  altar — everywhere.  He  preached, 
lectured,  dedicated  churches,  often  paying  his  ex- 
penses, and  often,  if  not  always,  without  compen- 
sation. He  visited  ninety-two  places  in  the  North- 
west where  no  other  bishop  had  ever  been. 
And  wherever  he  went  men  kindled  their  smol- 
dering lamps  at  his  torch.  In  fact,  without  a 
word  or  a  hint  disparaging  to  any  one  else,  it 
was  given  to  Bishop  Joyce  to  be  an  evangelist. 
He  was  an  evangelist  before  he  was  elected  bishop. 
His  heart  was  no  less  swept  by  the  passion  for 
souls  after  the  episcopal  staff  was  put  in  his  hand, 
than  it  was  when  he  was  a  country  shepherd  of  the 
flock  of  Christ.  Amen.  There  are  diversities  of 
gifts.  Nor  can  the  eye  say  of  the  hand,  'I  have 
no  need  of  thee.'  But :  may  God  grant — may  God 
grant,  I  say,  that  never  may  there  fail  from  our 
episcopal  college  one  who  will  stand  pre-eminently 
forth  as  an  evangelist.  There  are  such  in  that 
body  now.  May  their  enthusiasm  never  be  cooled 
off  by  the  proprieties  of  what  is,  after  all,  but  an 
office — exalted  office  though  it  be!  .   .   . 

"The  wanderer  has  found  the  path  home.  May 
the  path  he  blazed,  in  any,  in  every  clime,  be  trod 
like  gloriously,  as  by  sons  of  God.  Adieu — for  a 
little  time.  Then?  To  take  the  path  again,  to- 
gether, on,  on,  still  on,  where  Jesus  still  leads 
the  way." 


Estimates  by  Church  Leaders.  279 


BY    DR.    R.    J.    COOKE,    HOOK    EDITOR    OF    THE    METH- 
ODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH. 

Dear  Doctor  Sheridan, — I  wish  it  were  pos- 
sible for  me  to  reply  in  a  fitting  manner  to  your 
kind  request  for  my  estimate  of  Bishop  Joyce, 
but  how  can  cold  words  adequately  express  the 
tenderest  emotions  of  the  heart  which  start  at  the 
thought  of  those  we  love?  How  can  calm  and 
passionless  judgment  sanely  estimate  qualities  and 
powers  when  the  soul  of  us  is  up  in  revolt  against 
all  critical  analysis  which  would  mar  the  faces  of 
loved  ones  gone,  or  blur  the  memory  of  their  sweet 
companionship?  Wordsworth  has  something  to 
say  of 

{   "  One  that  would  peep  and  botanize 
Upon  his  mother's  grave," 

and  doubtless  there  are  those  who  are  so  far  gone 
in  atrophy  of  feeling,  like  Darwin  who  lost  his 
ear  for  music,  that  they  are  no  longer  able  to 
respond  to  sentiments  beautiful  and  tender,  but 
imagine  in  the  silly  pride  and  hardness  of  their 
hearts  that  stoical  indifference  to  misfortune  is 
better  evidence  of  a  cultured  mind  than  outward 
expressions  of  bitter  grief  or  of  glorious  appre- 
ciation. To  such  people  the  very  music  of  heaven 
would  all  be  one  with  the  raucous  voices  which 
Dante  heard  in  Malaboge.  If  then  my  estimate 
of  my  departed  friend  should  become  a  eulogy 
rather  than  a  critical  appraisal  of  his  gifts,  it  is 
because  I  can  not  forget  the  love  wherewith  he 
loved  me,  and  for  that  reason  I  feel  incompetent 
for  the  task  you  have  assigned  me. 


280  Life  of  Isaac  Wilson  Joyce. 

I  may  be  permitted  to  say,  however,  that  with 
Bishop  Joyce  I  was  for  many  years  most  intimate. 
I  knew  him  thoroughly ;  knew  him  in  all  his  moods, 
and  seasons;  in  his  public  life  and  private  life, 
knew  his  judgments  of  men  and  affairs,  and  this 
I  have  to  say,  that  in  my  estimation,  a  better, 
nobler  hearted  man,  a  man  whose  whole  inner  life 
was  tuned  to  the  sweetest  music  of  the  noblest 
living,  never  lived  and  moved  among  us,  laboring 
night  and  day  for  the  advancement  of  the  king- 
dom of  God.  He  loved  God  deeply  and  all  things 
which  make  for  righteousness.  He  loved  the 
brethren,  and  his  was  a  heart  that  ever  yearned 
for  human  friendship.  His  character  was  a  fine 
combination  of  strength  and  beauty.  In  his 
preaching  he  struggled  intensely  to  make  God  real 
to  those  who  heard;  to  make  Christ  and  salvation 
and  heaven  real  to  all  who  cared.  How  his  soul, 
at  times,  would  pour  itself  out  in  torrents  of  fire 
and  pathos  and  love,  when  the  Holy  Spirit  brood- 
ing over  a  congregation,  the  whole  body  of  be- 
lievers responded  to  his  magnetic  eloquence!  But 
I  have  heard  him  in  prayer  in  a  humble  cabin  on 
the  lonely  mountain  side  when  he  was  just  as  fer- 
vent as  when  before  the  vast  multitude  at  a  camp- 
meeting.  He  was  an  heroic  soul.  Many  are  the 
instances  I  could  relate  of  his  courage  and  of  his 
patience,  of  his  Christly  self-restraint,  but  I  am 
writing  you  a  letter  and  not  a  book.  He  was  self- 
sacrificing.  The  bishops  who  have  lived  and  la- 
bored among  us  in  the  Southern  Conferences  have 
all  been  generous  in  expenditure  of  self.  When 
Bishop  Joyce  first  came  to  Chattanooga  he  and 
Mrs.  Joyce  immediately  entered  heart  and  soul  into 


Estimates  by  Church  Leaders.  281 


the  incessant  toil  of  those  who  were  building  for 
the  splendid  results  which  are  seen  to-day  in  beau- 
tiful East  Tennessee.  After  eight  years'  residence 
in  the  South,  Bishop  Joyce  left  for  other  fields 
with  nothing  but  his  insurance.  Nothing?  He 
carried  with  him  the  undying  love  of  a  noble 
people ! 

Among  the  many  important  duties  of  a  bishop 
in  the  Methodist  Church  the  most  important  is  to 
put  the  right  man  in  the  right  place.  So,  as  a 
bishop  presiding  in  the  Conferences,  Bishop  Joyce 
was  ever  considerate  of  two  things:  the  preacher 
and  the  Church.  He  would  not  sacrifice  a  preacher 
if  he  could  help  it;  he  certainly  would  not  ruin 
a  Church.  That  he  was  always  wise,  and  never 
made  mistakes,  he  himself  would  not  admit;  that 
he  was  ever  willfully  autocratic  against  all  light 
and  leading  would  be — an  exaggeration.  He  could 
be  firm,  as  Tennyson  makes  Cardinal  Pole  say,  I 
have  seen  a  pine  in  Italy  which  flung  its  shadow 
athwart  a  cataract,  the  cataract  shook  the  shadow, 
firm  stood  the  pine;  but  his  heart  was  as  tender  as, 
woman's  love,  and  to  the  Methodist  preacher  he 
was  kindness  incarnate. 

Such  was  Bishop  Joyce  as  I  knew  him.  And 
here  I  must  close,  for  I  must  stop  somewhere.  In 
one  final  word,  this  dear  man  of  God  stood  before 
us  the  living  picture  of  Goldsmith's  village  pastor, 

"And  as  a  bird  each  fond  endearment  tries 
To  tempt  its  new  fledged  offspring  to  the  skies, 
He  tried  each  art,  reproved  each  dull  delay, 
Allured  to  brighter  worlds  and  led  the  way." 


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